WICHITA, Kan. – No. 35 Wichita State makes its 10th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and will open against No. 27 Syracuse (17-7) on Friday, May 11 (12 p.m. CT) in the First Round in Oxford, Miss.
Tourney Bits
-WSU received the program's first at-large bid, in its first season in the American Athletic Conference.
-The Shockers look to grab their first postseason win since the 2006-07 season, where they reached the round of 32.
-WSU has played in 12 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments.
-WSU's made it to the Round of 32 one time.
-The trip to Oxford, Miss. will be the first for the Shockers in postseason play. Out of there 12 Regional appearance, WSU has traveled to Florida four times, Oklahoma twice, California twice, and once to Arkansas, Nebraska and Texas.
-Friday's match with Syracuse marks the fourth ACC opponent the Shockers have faced in the NCAA First and Second Rounds. Georgia Tech was the last in 2015, where WSU fell 4-3.
-Four of the 11 Shocker opponents in the field of 64 came at home. WSU holds a 4-7 record. WSU took down Conference USA winner FIU, 4-2, Big West Champion Hawaii, 6-1, and WAC winner UMKC, 4-0. WSU also dropped Big 12 conference at-large Kansas State, 4-1.
Shocker Season
-Seniors
Gabriela Porubin and
Giulia Guidetti lead No. 35 WSU. Porubin enters the postseason for the fourth time in her career, while Guidetti has been three times. Three other Shockers have seen action in at least one NCAA Tournament.
-Head coach
Colin Foster has reached the NCAA Tournament in all nine of his seasons at WSU, and is second in school history with 173 career wins. (Les Stafford, 178).
-This season's schedule proved to be one of the toughest for WSU in recent history. The Shockers played against 12 teams who currently rank in the top-50 of the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings. WSU went 4-8 against the field. Out of the 12, five were true matches, including matches against No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 18 Kansas.
-WSU is 21-4 at home the last three seasons, including a 6-2 mark this season.
Elite Company
In this year's Field of 64 in the NCAA Team Championship, 19 teams have a streak of 10+ NCAA bids. Out of the 19, only two besides Wichita State are from outside of the Power 5. (Tulsa-AAC, Pepperdine-WCC).
Final Ride
Seniors
Giulia Guidetti and
Gabriela Porubin are top-10 in numerous categories in the Wichita State record books. Guidetti is sixth all-time in career singles wins with 95, while Porubin is seventh with 93. Porubin sits at third in combined career wins (193) and doubles career wins (101). Guidetti holds the record for wins in a season (39-5) and wins in a two-year span (63-18).
Around the Regional
-No. 27 Syracuse (17-7, 8-6 ACC) is led by First-Team All-ACC standout Gabriela Knutson. She ranks No. 5 in ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings and is 17-3 in dual action.
-Syracuse reached the Round of 64 for the second time in three years.
-Knutson and Miranda Ramirez rank No. 8 in doubles for the Orange.
-WSU and Syracuse have never met in women's tennis.
- Ole Miss (20-6, 9-4 SEC) comes into the weekend ranked No. 6.
- The Rebels are led by SEC Player of the Year Arianne Hartono (20-2). She enters postseason play seventh in singles and fifth with doubles partner Alexa Bortles
-This year marks the 10
th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for Ole Miss and 21
st overall.
-WSU and Ole Miss have never met in women's tennis.
-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champion Missouri State (12-9, 3-2 MVC) makes its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2002.
-WSU is 24-8 all-time against the Bears. The two last met Jan. 26, 2017 where WSU won 7-0 in Wichita.
Been There Done That
-Seniors
Giulia Guidetti and
Gabriela Porubin are making their third and fourth NCAA Team Tournament appearances, respectively.
Fatima Bizhukova,
Marta Bellucco and
Ting-Ya Hsu each have competed in one.
-Porubin is 3-3 overall in NCAA First Rounds, including an impressive 3-0 in doubles play. Guidetti sports a 3-1 NCAA Tournament record. She is 2-0 in singles, and 1-1 in doubles play.
-Bizhukova is 2-0, while Hsu and Bellucco are looking to win their first.
All-AAC
-
Fatima Bizhukova and
Sandra Honigova were recently named to the all-conference teamin the American Athletic Conference.
-The two combined to go 26-11 in dual singles action.
-Bizhukova and Honigova combined to knock off six ranked opponents this season, and reached as high as No. 55 and No. 102, respectively.
Two in the Rankings
-Fatima Bizhukova and
Sandra Honigova end the season both in the ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings (Bizhukova, 72, Honigova, 124).
- The pair also made the rankings earlier in the season, at No. 55 and 102, respectively.
-No two Shockers have ever been ranked in the ITA Rankings in the same week.
- Bizhukova's No. 55 ranking was the highest since Lutfiano Budiharto in 2009-10 (54).
The Transition
-Wichita State made it to the semifinals of its first ever American Athletic Conference Championship.
-WSU won 11 of the last 12 MVC Tournaments and 19 overall since the 1981-82 season.
-The Shockers combined to go 89-0 in MVC matches (regular season and conference) over the past nine years.
-Head coach
Colin Foster had never lost to an MVC opponent in his eight seasons in the conference.
Bizhukova Headed to Nationals
Wichita State sophomore
Fatima Bizhukova (No. 72, ITA) earned the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Individual Championship, slated for May 23 in Winstom-Salem, N.C.
She is only the fifth Shocker to compete in the women's singles draw. Shocker standouts Lutfiano Budiharto (2010, 2012), Madina Rakhim (2007), singles career leader Sandy Sadler (1984), and current senior
Gabriela Porubin (2016) round out the group.
