WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men's tennis team looks to ride a two-match win streak into a home doubleheader tomorrow, where they are slated to take on Charlotte and UMKC. The first match is scheduled to be played at Wichita Collegiate and the latter indoors at Genesis Health Club.

LAST TIME OUT
After losing the doubles point, the Shockers rallied to knock off Nebraska (4-3) in a battle until the end in Lincoln. Ovil, Inoue, Stoica and joined Latinovic- who won the match-clincher- with singles wins over the Cornhuskers.

SHOCKER SUMMARY
The Shockers (8-7) have three top-50 wins under their belt - No. 43 Drake (4-2), No. 28 Dartmouth (4-2), and No. 50 Memphis (4-3).  WSU's other wins have come against Nebraska (4-3), Denver (5-2), UNC-Wilmington (4-0), Middle Tennessee State (4-3) and Tennessee State (7-0). Five of their seven losses have come against top-25 opponents - No. 13 Oklahoma (4-0), No. 3 Mississippi State (4-0), No. 20 Tennessee (5-2), No. 15 TCU, (6-0), and No. 25 Minnesota (7-0).
 
RANKED SHOCKERS
The Shockers broke the top-40 for the first time since 1982-83 in March 5^th's ITA/Oracle Team Rankings poll, coming in at No. 39. The Shockers entered the rankings on Feb. 26 at No. 44.
 
BIG WINS
WSU collected its first top-30 win since the 2012-13 season, when they knocked off No. 28 Dartmouth on Feb. 23 in Hanover, N.H. The win was the first over the Big Green since March 27, 1988. The Shockers followed with a 4-2 win over No. 43 Drake on March 1 (4-2), their first win over the Bulldogs since the 2015-16 season. On March 12, the Shockers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knock off No. 50 Memphis (4-3) in Wichita.

SCOUTING THE 49ers
The 49ers sport a 7-8 record, with wins over Presbyterian, Winthrop, Furman, Florida Gulf Coast, North Florida, No. 49 Georgia State and No. 23 Penn. Their losses came to No. 19 Tennessee (twice), No. 22 Alabama, Penn State, Princeton, USF and No. 23 Oklahoma State.
 
49ers in the Rankings
Lucas Keist holds an 8-7 record in the top slot and ranks No. 84 in ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings. Keist and Constandinos Christoforou are ranked No. 26 in Doubles Rankings and hold a 9-4 record in the top slot.
 
This will be the first meeting between the programs.
 
SCOUTING THE KANGAROOS
The Kangaroos are 4-7 on the season with wins over Oral Roberts, Coe College, Lindenwood and Missouri-St. Louis. Ben Stride leads the Kangaroos with a 9-1 record in the third slot. Diego Giraldo is 6-2, mainly in the second slot.
 
WSU leads the all-time series with UMKC, 19-1. The Shockers won 7-0 on Feb. 8, 2018 in Wichita. The last UMKC win was April 14, 1999 in Wichita (5-2).

ROAD TO THE TOP
Six opponents the Shockers have faced are in the top-50 of the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings (March 12). Mississippi State (10), TCU (12), Minnesota (15), Oklahoma (21), Tennessee (22), and Dartmouth (40).  

STRONG UP TOP
Senior Haru Inoue leads the Shockers in singles play, sporting a 7-4 record (2-2 1st, 5-1 2nd). Inoue Knocked off Scott Jones, who ranked No. 75 for Tennessee and No. 64 Tom Hands of Drake in clinching fashion on March 1.  Marius Frosa is 7-5 in the third slot for WSU. The junior clinched the match at Middle Tennessee with an impressive come-from-behind win on Feb. 4. and capped it with a match-clinching win over Jeremy Taylor on March 12 against Memphis.  Murkel Dellien is 5-8 in dual play, including a clinching straight set win over Dartmouth's Dan Martin in the number two slot. Five of his losses have come against ranked opponents in the top two spots.
 
DELLIEN NETS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Wichita State men's tennis student-athlete Murkel Dellien was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for Feb. 17-23.
 
Dellien – the first Shocker to take home the Player of the Week honors this season – knocked off Dan Martin of Dartmouth last Saturday to clinch the 4-2 thrilling victory over No. 28 Dartmouth. Dellien won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5 in the second flight for WSU. The win marks the first top-30 win for the Shockers since the 2012-13 season.

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. After starting the dual season 0-6, the 6-foot-6 freshman has reeled off three of his last four in the fifth slot. 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. Ovil is 4-4 in the sixth flight for the Shockers.
 
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 Trinidad, Bolivia, Dellien reached the semifinal of the ITA Central Regional for the first time since Shocker All-American Phil Cooper in 1995.