WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men's tennis team continues its nine-match road swing with a trip to Minneapolis, Feb. 15-16, to take on No. 25 Minnesota and Western Michigan at the Baseline Tennis Center.
 
The Shockers (4-4) will take on Minnesota on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. test with Western Michigan on Saturday.
 
SHOCKER SUMMARY
WSU (4-4) fell to No. 15 TCU in its last match (Feb., 6-0. The Shockers have wins against Denver (5-2) and UNC-Wilmington (4-0). WSU's four losses have come against top-25 opponents, No. 13 Oklahoma (4-0), No. 3 Mississippi State (4-0) and No. 20 Tennessee (5-2), and No. 15 TCU, (6-0).
 
STRONG UP TOP
Senior Haru Inoue leads the Shockers in singles play, sporting a 4-1 record (2-1 1^st, 2-0 2^nd). Inoue Knocked off Scott Jones, who ranked No. 75 for Tennessee. His only loss came to Alex Rybakov, who ranked No. 8 in singles play. Marius Frosa is 4-1 in the second slot for WSU. The junior clinched the match atMiddle Tennessee with an impressive come-from-behind win on Feb. 4. Murkel Dellien is 3-4 in dual play, with his four losses coming to ranked opponents.
 
ON THE GOPHERS
Winners of five-straight, Minnesota is off to a 7-1 start to the season. Led by Josip Krstanoivc, who comes into this weeks rankings at No. 53, the Gophers have wins over Depaul (7-0), Green Bay (7-0), Central Florida (4-3), No. 19 Alabama (4-3), Auburn (7-0), Dartmouth (7-0) and Marquette (5-2). Their lone setback was to Oregon (4-1). The Gophers are led by Geoff Young in his 12^th season (176-114), and are coming off a 17-9 record in 2017-18 where they reached the Round of 16 at the NCAA Team Championships.
 
WSU and Minnesota are tied 1-1 in the all-time series, with the last meeting taking place on March 24, 1988 – where the Gophers won 5-4 in Irvine, Calif. WSU earned its win on March 24, 1983, a 5-4 winner in Corpus Christi, Texas.

ON THE BRONCOS
Western Michigan sports a 4-5 record, with wins over UIC (twice) and Ferris State (twice). The Broncos were defeated by Iowa, No. 9 Texas A&M, California, Rice, and Harvard. Junior Jannik Opitz is 5-1 in dual play in flights one and two, along with Matej Svjetlicic, mainly in flight four.
 
Peter Kuszynski and Nick Schnobel are 3-0 in doubles play in the third flight, and Opitz and Lenhard Haupt are 4-2.
 
Led by legendary coach Dave Morin (430-243, 22^nd season), the Broncos lead the all-time series with the Shockers, 1-0. WMU knocked off WSU, 4-2, on March 5, 2005 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
 
NEW FACES
The Shockers welcomed two freshmen to the 2019 squad. Freshman Stefan Latinovic comes to WSU from Belgrade, Serbia and won his first collegiate match on Feb. 4 against Tennessee State. A native of Petah Tikva, Israel, Orel Ovil joined WSU in the fall, and earned his first win as a Shocker at ITA Central Regionals, a three-set thriller over Nebraska-Omaha's Abdoul Ouattara.
 
DELLIEN'S REMARKABLE FALL RUN
Junior Murkel Dellien compiled a 6-2 record in the fall, including wins over two ranked opponents (No. 55 Josh Goodger, Tulsa and No. 32 Ferran Calvo of Oklahoma).  A native of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Dellien reached the semifinal of the ITA Central Regional for the first time since Shocker All-American Phil Cooper in 1995.