WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State women's tennis team looks to continue its win streak when they host two home matches against American Athletic Conference opponents, Friday (Feb. 22) and Sunday (Feb. 24) at the Wichita Country Club.
 
The Shockers (5-4) will take on No. 39 SMU on Friday at 11 a.m. followed by Cincinnati at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Sundays match will be sponsored by Dr. Matthew Conrad, with free donuts and bagels available throughout the match.
 
Shocker Summary
Wichita State reeled off three straight victories last weekend in Lincoln, Neb., improving to 5-4 on the young season. WSU has wins over Louisville (4-1), Nebraska (4-1), Creighton (4-0), Middle Tennessee State (4-1) and UT-Arlington (5-1). Baylor, No. 11 Kansas, Missouri and Houston are among the four losses for the Shockers.
 
Senior Sandra Honigova sports a 5-3 record in the No. 1 slot, while junior Ting-Ya Hsu is 2-1 in flights five and six. LingWei Kong and Hsu hold a 4-1 record in the third flight of doubles, along with Honigova and Marta Bellucco in flight one.
  
ON THE MUSTANGS
Winners of three in a row, the Mustangs bring a 4-3 record and No. 39 national ranking to Wichita. After suffering three close losses to No. 17 Texas Tech (4-3), Oklahoma (4-3) and Washington State (4-3), SMU knocked off USC (4-3), Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (6-0) and Tulane (7-0).
 
Wichita State holds a 5-2 advantage in the all-time series, and defeated the Mustangs (5-2) in their last meeting on Jan. 20 in Dallas.

MUSTANGS IN THE RANKINGS
Two Mustangs rank inside the top-125 of the ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings. Liza Buss (No. 90) holds a 4-3 record, mainly in the first flight, and is 4-2 against national ranked opponents dating back to the fall. Vivienne Kulicke (No. 117) has won four matches in a row in the second slot, sporting a 4-1 record. Buss and Anzhelika Shapovalova (No. 55) are 3-2 in doubles play in flights one and two.
 
ON THE BEARCATS
After starting the season 1-2, Cincinnati (5-2) has won four-straight matches. Their wins include Butler (7-0), Toldeo (7-0), IUPUI (7-0), Western Michigan (4-3) and Miami-Ohio (5-2). Indiana and Louisville are among their losses.
 
The Bearcats are strong at the bottom of the lineup, with a 21-7 dual record in flights three through six. Maria Santilli (7-0, 5th flight), Emma Miceli (6-1, 6th flight) and Caroline Morton (5-2, 3rd flight) lead the Bearcats.
 
The meeting between the Shockers and Bearcats will be the first all-time.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Shockers have been dominant in doubles play, clinching the doubles point in seven of their nine matches this season. The only match WSU did not clinch was against No. 11 Kansas. WSU and Houston did not compete in doubles due to weather. Honigova/Bellucco and Kong/Hsu are both 4-1 in flights two and three, respectively. Esther Thebault and Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva are 4-3 in the top slot.
 
"All three teams have just had good chemistry, they complement each other well. Kind of gotten on a roll. It has kind of been different teams contributing each match, but we aren't getting overwhelmed at all in any spots. They have clipped quickly and kind of got some momentum and a lot of confidence playing together, so that's been a big bright spot. All these competitive matches in the schedule, having that doubles point is certainly a nice thing to have in your back pocket", said head coach Colin Foster.

RETURNERS
WSU returns six players from last season's team, who reached the Second Round of the NCAA Team Championships. Sandra Honigova, who went 16-5 in dual play last season, leads the charge for WSU. The senior competed mostly in flights two and three last season. Fatima Bizhukova, was 12-8 in the top flight, with five wins over ranked opponents. The junior knocked off the No. 3 and 5 singles players during the season. Bellucco was 9-11, Lazarova 4-4 and Saidhujaeva 7-11. In doubles, Bizhukova and Bellucco, who ranked as high as No. 64, were 10-4 in the top flight. The duo had four ranked wins, including a win over the No. 5 and 8 ranked doubles duo at the NCAA Team Championships.
 
NEW FACES
The Shockers welcomed two newcomers to the 2019 squad. LingWei Kong comes to WSU from GuangZhou, China. The sophomore recorded her first collegiate victory on Feb. 16 against Nikolina Jokic of Louisville in three sets, and topped it with a straight set win on Feb. 17 vs. Erin Epperson of Creighton (6-1, 6-1). Kong is 4-1 with Ting-Ya Hsu in doubles in flight three. Esther Thebault, a native of Rennes, France, joins the Shockers for the spring season and is 3-4 in dual matches in the second flight.
 
FOSTER TOPS WINS LIST
Tenth-year head coach Colin Foster became the all-time wins leader for Wichita State women's tennis after a 4-0 sweep of Creighton on Feb. 17. His first win at Wichita State was also against Creighton (5-2) on Jan. 28, 2010. Foster has compiled an impressive 179-75 record in his 10 years as head coach. A Purdue graduate and three-year assistant at TCU, Foster passed Les Stafford (178-143, 16 seasons) for most wins in the history of women's tennis. Foster claimed eight MVC Regular Season Titles, eight MVC Tournament Titles and has reached the NCAA Team Championships nine-straight years.
 
Along with coaching 45 all-conference selections, 26 individual conference champions (20 singles and six doubles), 37 MVC Player of the Week winners and 19 MVC Scholar-Athletes, WSU compiled a perfect 55-0 record in MVC regular season matches and finished 78-0 overall against Valley competition since Foster's arrival in 2009. Foster earned MVC Coach of the Year honors five times, while six student-athletes were named MVC Player of the Year and four named MVC Freshman of the Year under his guidance.

Bizhukova and Bellucco Make History
Bizhukova and Bellucco completed many historic feats this fall, going down as one of the most succesful falls in recent history at Wichita State.  The duo began the season No. 14 in the ITA/Oracle Preseason Fall Rankings, the highest ranking for a Shocker duo since 1999-00.  Bizhukova and Bellucco, from Russia and Italy respectively, compiled wins over three top-30 opponents on their way to the semifinals of the ITA Riviera All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Knocked off No. 19 Sophie Whittle/Graciela Rosas of Gonzaga (8-4), No. 5 Emma Davis and Chandler Carter of Wake Forest (8-5) and USC's Angela Kuliokov/Rianna Valdes (No. 27), 8-5.
 
The Shocker tandem became the first Shocker duo in the history of women's tennis to reach the semifinals of the ITA Riviera All-American Championships. Also defeated No. 60 Elisa Koonik and Tessa van Der Ploeg of Wyoming (6-1) and reached the consolation quarterfinals of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Surprise, Ariz., becoming the first duo to compete in the prestigious event.
 
- Named American Athletic Conference Players of the Month in October-