WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State women's tennis team treks to Florida for two spring break matinees against American Athletic Conference Opponents USF and UCF on March 15 and 17.
 
The Shockers (8-6) will take on USF on Friday (11 a.m. CT) and No. 28 UCF at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday in Tampa and Orlando, respectively.
 
LAST TIME OUT
After clinching the doubles point in comeback fashion, Fatima Bizhukova knocked off No. 7 Sophie Whittle in singles play – helping the Shockers to a 6-1 win over the Bulldogs, who ranked No. 39 in ITA Team Rankings.
 
BIZHUKOVA TOP-10
Bizhukova, a junior from Balashiha, Russia, compiled her third top-10 singles win of her career on March 11, dropping No. 7 Sophie Whittle of Gonzaga in straight sets (6-2, 6-3). Bizhukova knocked off FIU's Andrea Lazaro, who ranked No. 3 in ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings, last season at ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Lubbock. The 2018 All-AAC selection followed with a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 5 Gabriela Knutson of Syracuse in the First Round of NCAA Team Championships in Oxford, Miss.
 
SHOCKER NOTABLES
The Shockers (8-6) are coming off a 6-1 win over No. 39 Gonzaga, after falling to two Big 12 opponents Kansas State (No. 37) and Oklahoma State (No. 8). WSU holds wins over Louisville (4-1), Nebraska (4-1), Creighton (4-0), No. 39 SMU (4-3), Middle Tennessee State (4-1), UT-Arlington (5-1), and Cincinnati (4-2). Baylor, No. 11 Kansas, Missouri, Houston, No. 37 Kansas State and No. 8 Oklahoma State are among the six losses for the Shockers.
 
Senior Sandra Honigova has won eight of her last nine dual matches and sports a 8-4 record in the number one and two slots.

SHOCKERS RANKED FOR 13th STRAIGHT SEASON
For the 13^th season in a row, the Wichita State women's tennis team entered the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings on Feb. 26, coming in at No. 36. Colin Foster, in his 10^th season as the head coach, has guided his teams to a Team Ranking in every year at the helm, peaking at No. 13 in the 2015-16 season
 
2019 Polls
Feb. 26 – No. 36
March 5 – 40
March 12 - NR
 
ON THE BULLS
ITA Ranking: NR
The Bulls are 7-7 on the season, and 2-0 against American Athletic Conference opponents. USF have collected wins against Florida Gulf Coast, William and Mary, Middle Tennessee State, North Florida, Mississippi State, Tulane and SMU. Their losses have come to FAU, LSU, No. 5 Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Penn.

Ana Roman Dominguez- (ITA, No. 43)- holds a 10-2 record in the top slot with wins over three ranked opponents
Amelie Boy – has compiled an 8-5 record, mainly in flight five (6-1)
Vanja Klaric – is 7-4 for the Bulls in flights two through four
 
Klaric and Nicole Dzenga are 5-5 in No. 1 doubles, while Roman Dominguez and Boy hold a 5-4 record in the second slot.
 
South Florida leads the all-time series, 4-0 with the last meeting in 1989.

ON THE KNIGHTS
ITA Ranking: 28
 
The Knights, winner of 12-straight, are off to a blistering 14-2 start to the season. They have ranked wins over No. 23 Tulsa, No. 40 Denver, No. 48 Florida, and No. 46 SMU. Their two losses were to No. 15 Florida State (5-2) and No. 20 Northwestern (4-3). The Knights are 68-18 in singles play and 27-12 in doubles action.
 
KNIGHTS IN THE RANKINGS
Valeriya Zeleva (ITA, No. 27) – holds a 13-3 record in the top slot, with wins over six ranked opponents.
Ksenia Kuznetsova (ITA, No. 70) – is 11-3 mainly in the second spot and is 1-1 against ranked opponents
 
Zeleva and Kuznetsova (ITA, No.18) – hold a 9-3 record in the top slot for the Knights
 
Natalia Serrano is 9-1, Marie Mattel is 9-2, and Nandini Sharma is 12-1 in singles play.
 
The all-time series is tied at one, with the Knights, then ranked No. 19, winning the last meeting in Wichita on April 15, 2018 over the No. 34-ranked Shockers.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Shockers have been dominant in doubles play, clinching the doubles point in 10 of their 14 matches this season. The only matches the Shockers have not clinched was against No. 11 Kansas and No. 37 Kansas State and No. 8 Oklahoma State. WSU and Houston did not compete in doubles due to weather. Kong/Hsu are 7-3 in flight three while Honigova and Marta Bellucco are 5-3 in the second slot. Esther Thebault and Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva are 7-4 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 7-4 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 6-5 in dual matches in the second and third flights.
 
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 181-75 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-