Oxford, Miss. – Ninth-year head coach
Colin Foster earned his first NCAA Tournament win, as Wichita State took down No. 27 Syracuse, 4-1, at the Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center in Friday's First Round.
Playing in their 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament, the Shockers claimed their first postseason win since the 2006-07 season.
WSU started hot out of the gates, clinching the doubles point with wins on courts one and two.
Gabriela Porubin and
Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva improved to 9-1 in No. 3 doubles, taking down Dina Hegab and Maria Tritou, 6-1. No. 72 ranked
Fatima Bizhukova and
Marta Bellucco trailed Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez 4-2, before storming back to win the final four games and knock off the 8th-ranked Syracuse duo.
WSU grabbed wins in the top three flights to secure the win.
Sandra Honigova, who recently moved into the rankings at No. 124, got the Shockers out to an early 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Golubovskaya. With the win, Honigova improves her record to 16-4. Guidetti competed in the second flight for just the seventh time this season. The senior from Italy defeated Ramirez (6-2, 6-2), pushing her NCAA Tournament record to 4-1, including a perfect 3-0 in singles. Bizhukova took on her third top-five opponent of the season, in Gabriela Knutson. Knutson came into the match sporting a 19-3 dual-match record and 30-6 overall. Bizhukova, who ranks No. 72, raced out to a 6-1 first set win and cruised in the second set (6-3) to clinch the match for the Shockers. The win is the second top-five victory on the season for Bizhukova. She knocked off No. 3 ranked Andrea Lazaro of FIU earlier in the season, and was one game away from knocking off No. 5 Gabriela Talaba of Texas Tech before going unfinished.
Syracuse got one on the board on court No. 5, where Maria Tritou took down Bellucco (6-1, 6-1). Porubin was leading 5-1 in the second set over Shkudun, while Saidhujaeva was up a set (6-4) before going unfinished.
With the win, WSU improves to 18-8 on the season and will face No. 6 Ole Miss tomorrow at 2 p.m. for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Match Notes
- WSU earns its first NCAA Tournament win since 2007
- Porubin improves to 4-3 in NCAA Tournament play and 4-0 in doubles
- Guidetti moves to 4-1 with a 3-0 singles record in the NCAA Tournament
- Bizhukova is a perfect 4-0 in the NCAA Tournament, including wins over No. 5 Gabriela Knutson in singles and No. 8 Ramirez/Knutson in doubles
- Head coach
Colin Foster collects his first NCAA Tournament win in his ninth season with WSU
NCAA Women's Tennis First Round – Oxford, Miss.
#35 Wichita State 4, #27 Syracuse 1
Doubles
1. #72 Bizhukova/Bellucco (WSU) def. #8 Knutson/Ramirez (SU) 6-4
2. Guidetti/Hsu (WSU) vs. Shkudun/Golubovskaya (SU) 5-4, uf
3. Porubin/Saidhujaeva (WSU) def. Hegab/Tritou (SU) 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1
Singles
1. #72
Fatima Bizhukova (WSU) def. #5 Gabriela Knutson (SU) 6-1, 6-3
2.
Giulia Guidetti (WSU) def. Miranda Ramirez (SU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #124
Sandra Honigova (WSU) def. Sofya Golubovskaya (SU) 6-2, 6-0
4.
Gabriela Porubin (WSU) vs. Anna Shkudun (SU) 3-6, 5-1, uf
5. Dina Hegab (SU) def.
Marta Bellucco (WSU) 6-1, 6-1
6.
Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU) vs. Libi Mesh (SU) 6-4, 2-3, uf
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 5, 1
