WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State women's tennis team heads south for a two-match road swing in Texas. WSU is scheduled to take on Houston on Friday at the Wallace-Winston Tennis Facilty (1 p.m.), and UT-Arlington Sunday at 10 a.m. at the UTA Tennis Center.
 
Shocker Summary
Wichita State is 1-3 to start the 2019 campaign, with losses to Baylor, No. 11 Kansas and Missouri. Their lone win came at ITA Kick-Off Weekend to Middle Tennessee State, 4-1.
 
Last Time Out
Marta Bellucco and Sandra Honigova improved to 3-0 in doubles, with a 7-6 (3) clinch in the number two spot against Missouri to take the doubles point. Bellucco was the lone Shocker to record a singles win (third flight) as the Shockers fell to the Tigers, 4-2.
 
ON THE COUGARS
The Cougars being the season with a 3-2 record in the spring, with wins over Lamar (6-1), Sam Houston State (5-2) and Incarnate Word (5-2). Texas A&M and Auburn are among their two losses.
 
Individually, Ndindi Ndunda and Phonexay Chitdara are 3-1 in singles play, while Sophie Gerits and Chitdara are 3-0 in the number two slot of doubles.
 
WSU is 1-0 all-time against Houston, with the win coming in last season's American Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals. The Shockers won 4-2 to advance to semifinal action.
 
ON THE MAVERICKS
UT-Arlington is off to a hot start to begin the 2019 season. The Mavericks are 4-0 with sweeps over Texas- Permian Basin (7-0) and Prairie View A&M (7-0) as well as UTEP (6-1) and McNeese State (4-3). Nanaka Takeuchi and Almudena Boza and 4-0 in singles play, in flights four and six. The Mavericks are 10-0 in doubles play.
 
WSU leads the all-time series with the Mavericks, 6-1.  Under Head Coach Colin Foster, the Shockers are 6-1 with their last win coming last February in Wichita, 4-0.
 
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. Sophomore LingWei Kong comes to WSU from GuangZhou, China, and is 0-2 in her first collegiate matches this spring (3^rd and 4^th flight). Kong is 1-1 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 1-3 in dual matches in the second flight.
 
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-