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WICHITA, Kan. – The Shockers reeled off five singles wins, including a straight-set win for Fatima Bizhukova over No. 7 Sophie Whittle in the top slot, to knock off No. 39 Gonzaga (6-1) Monday at the Wichita Country Club.
 
FROM HEAD COACH COLIN FOSTER ON..

..clinching the doubles point in highly contested matches:
"The doubles point really could have gone either way. I thought both teams did a great job of competing and fighting. It wasn't always pretty points, but just fighting. It could have gone either way, but obviously that is a huge point to get on the board against a good team.Ting-Ya (Hsu) and LingWei (Kong) have struggled a little bit the last couple times out in doubles. They put in a little extra work this morning and I think it showed with a convincing win. Then we were able to get one more across the line for the doubles point."

...singles points and Fatima Bizhukova knocking off No. 7 Sophie Whittle in the top slot:
"In singles, we expected a fight from them. We came out and got leads- up a set in all four courts in here. They didn't back down, and we knew they wouldn't. They put us under some pressure on all the courts, and we did well to just handle that pressure. Esther (Thebault) finding a way to win after having a whole bunch of match points earlier in the third set shows a lot of maturity on her part. Then of course Fatya (Bizhukova) - it's great to have her back in the lineup and shes proven over and over in her career that shes capable of wins like today. Really good result and performance from here, but not surprising from my end."

DOUBLES
The Shockers battled in all three doubles matches, coming away with hard-fought wins on courts two and three. LingWei Kong and Ting-Ya Hsu got back in the win column in the third flight, winning a 6-2 match over Haruna Tsurata and Kate Ketels. Fatima Bizhukova and Marta Bellucco, who hold a doubles ranking of 46, took on unbeaten Sophie Whittle and Graciela Rosas in the top flight. The Bulldogs and Shockers traded games early and often, eventually going to a tiebreaker. The Shocker held a 6-3 advantage in the tiebreaker over the the No.7-ranked Gonzaga duo, before Whittle and Rosas battled back to take the match (7-6(6).
 
The match on court two was one to watch, as Esther Thebault and Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva battled Domonique Garley and Sara Komer of Gonzaga. The Bulldog duo took control from the start, jumping out to a 5-2 lead. Saidhujaeva and Thebault showed fight and clawed back to tie the match at five. The two went to a tiebreaker, where the Shockers won 8-6 to win the doubles point.
 
SINGLES
The Shockers collected wins in the top three flights to clinch the win over the Bulldogs. Bizhukova knocked off a top-10 opponent for the third time in her career, this time in the top slot against No. 7 Sophie Whittle. Bizhukova grabbed an early lead in the first set and never looked back, knocking off Whittle in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to give WSU an early 2-0 advantage.
 
Honigova clinched her seventh win out of her last eight in the second flight, where she took on Graciela Rosas. The senior won 6-4, 6-4 to push the WSU lead to 3-0. Thebault, competing in the third flight, took on Garley in a three-set battle until the end. The junior from Rennes, France, rolled in the first set (6-3), before Garley came back in the second with a 6-4 win. The third set was a back and forth grind it out set, with both players battling until the end. Garley rallied from a 5-2 deficit to tie the set at five. Thebault trailed 6-5, before fighting back to tie it at six. In the tiebreaker, the two traded points early and often before Thebault pulled out an 8-6 win in the tiebreaker to clinch the 4-0 win for the Shockers.
 
Gonzaga got on the board in the fourth flight, where Saidhujaeva battled Vlada Medvedcova in three-sets, falling in the end (4-6, 6-4, 6-2). Kong and Hsu competed in the fifth and sixth flights for the Shockers, respectively. Kong took on Kate Ketels, while Hsu battled Sara Komer. After dropping the first, Kong took the second set and won a tiebreaker third set (10-8) to give WSU a 5-1 lead. In the sixth flight, Hsu came away with a hard-fought 6-2, 7-6 (9) win to secure the 6-1 win for the Shockers.
 
The Shockers have a quick turnaround as they travel to Florida to take on USF and UCF this Friday and Sunday. The matches are scheduled for 11 a.m. in Tampa and Orlando.
 

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#40 Wichita State 6, #39 Gonzaga 1

Doubles Results
1) #25 Sophie Whittle/Graciela Rosas (GU) def. #46 Fatima Bizhukova/Marta Bellucco (WSU, 7-6(6)
2. Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva/Esther Thebault (WSU) def. Domonique Garley/Sara Komer (GU), 7-6(6)
3. LingWei Kong/Ting-Ya Hsu (WSU) def. Haruna Tsurata/Kate Ketels (GU),
 
Singles Results
1. Fatima Bizhukova (WSU) def. #7 Sophie Whittle (GU), 6-2, 6-3
2. Sandra Honigova (WSU) vs. Graciela Rosas (GU), 6-4, 6-4
3. Esther Thebault (WSU) def. Domonique Garley (GU), 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
4. Vlada Medvedcova (GU) def. Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. LingWei Kong (WSU) def. Kate Ketels (GU), 2-6, 7-5, 10-8
6. Ting-Ya Hsu (WSU) def. Sara Komer (GU), 6-2, 7-6 (9)
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)