WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men's tennis team looks to continue its win streak with a road trip to Texas for matches against No. 15 TCU and UT-Arlington, on Friday and Saturday.
 
The Shockers will take on the Horned Frogs at 5:30 p.m. at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center Friday, then travel to Arlington for a 2 p.m. matchup vs. the Mavericks on Saturday at the UTA Tennis Center.
 
SHOCKER SUMMARY
WSU (4-3) is coming off a pair of road wins last week against Middle Tennessee State (4-3) and Tennessee State (7-0). The Shockers also have wins against Denver (5-2) and UNC-Wilmington (4-0). WSU's three losses have come against top-25 opponents, No. 13 Oklahoma (4-0), No. 3 Mississippi State (4-0) and No. 20 Tennessee (5-2).
 
STRONG UP TOP
Senior Haru Inoue leads the Shockers in singles play, sporting a 4-0 record (2-0 1^st, 2-0 2^nd). A native of Tokyo, Japan, Inoue is coming off two wins in the top slot this past week, including a win over Tennessee's Scott Jones, who ranked No. 75 in ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings. Marius Frosa is 4-1 in the second slot for WSU. The junior clinched the match over Middle Tennessee with an impressive come-from-behind win. Murkel Dellien is 3-3 in dual play, with his three losses coming to ranked opponents.
 
ON THE HORNED FROGS
TCU (3-1) comes into the match sporting a No. 16 Team Ranking. The Horned Frogs have wins over Loyola Marymount, No. 20 Oklahoma State, and UT-Arlington. Their lone loss came at the hands of Tulsa, 4-2 in their season opener at Tulsa.
 
TCU leads the all-time series, 8-3. The two met last on Feb. 18, 2012 where the Horned Frogs won 6-1 in Fort Worth. WSU looks to knock off TCU for the first time since 1984, where the Shockers won a 5-1 decision in Corpus Christi, Texas.
 
HORNED FROGS IN THE RANKINGS
Alex Rybakov, who ranks No. 8, leads a group of three Horned Frogs in the ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings (Feb. 6). Alastair Gray jumped into the rankings this week at No. 75, and Bertus Kruger comes in at No. 83. Kruger and Reese Stalder, an All-American in doubles, rank No. 48 in doubles.  Rybakov is a perfect 10-0 in singles (2-0 in dual play), with five ranked wins. Alastair Gray is 2-0 with Kruger holding a 3-1 dual match record. Kruger and Stalder are 2-2 in doubles action.
 
ON THE MAVERICKS
UT-Arlington (2-3) has won two of its last three, with wins over Texas – Permian Basin and Prairie View A&M. The Mavericks have lost two matches to ranked opponents (No. 11 Baylor, 7-0) and (No. 16 TCU, 5-2).
 
WSU leads the all-time series with the Mavericks, 10-7. The two met last on March 25, 2017, where UTA came away with a 4-3 win in Wichita. The Shockers beat them on March 4, 2017 (4-0) at the Pacific Invite in Stockton, Calif.
 
Enrique Pardo leads the Mavericks with a 4-1 record primarily in the second flight. Guanarteme Nunez is 2-3 in the top slot, with a 1-2 record against nationally ranked opponents. Pardo and Eduardo Simo lead the doubles group, where they are 3-0 on court two.
 
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.