WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State women's tennis team looks to get back on track with a matchup versus North Texas on March 23 in Wichita.
 
The Shockers (8-8) play host to the Mean Green at Crestview Country Club with the match scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Shockers dropped a pair of American Athletic Conference matches to USF and No. 28 UCF in Florida on March 15 and 17, respectively. In the third slot, Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva grabbed WSU's only point in a 4-1 loss to USF, and the Shockers fell 4-0 to the Knights in Orlando.

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 the NCAA Team Championships in Oxford, Miss.
 
CATCHING UP WITH THE SHOCKERS
The Shockers (8-8) have wins over two ranked opponents so far this season – No. 39 SMU (4-3) and No. 39 Gonzaga (6-1). The Shockers' other wins are over Louisville (4-1), Nebraska (4-1), Creighton (4-0), Middle Tennessee State (4-1), UT-Arlington (5-1), and Cincinnati (4-2). Four of their losses were against ranked opponents – No. 11 Kansas, No. 37 Kansas State, No. 8 Oklahoma State, and No. 28 UCF.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Sandra Honigova – holds an 8-4 record, mainly in the top slot. Her last two matches have gone unfinished against ranked opponents. The senior has won seven of the last eight matches she has finished. Has a ranked win over No. 90 Liza Buss of SMU.
 
Esther Thebault- sports a 6-7 record primarily in the second spot. Knocked off Vivienne Kulicke of SMU, who ranked No. 117. Holds a 7-4 doubles record with Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva in the second slot
 
Fatima Bizhukova – ranks No. 121 in singles play, with a 1-0 record in dual action. Her lone win came over No. 7-ranked Sophie Whittle of Gonzaga in straight sets. Ranks No. 25 in doubles with Marta Bellucco.
 
LingWei Kong – is 3-8 in flights two through five. Her and Ting-Ya Hsu are 7-4 in the doubles third slot
 
Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva – 5-5 in dual singles action (3-1 in flight five). Her and Thebault sport a 7-4 doubles record
 
Ting-Ya Hsu – holds a 4-6 singles record mainly in the fifth and sixth slots. Clinched the 4-2 victory for the Shockers over Cincinnati. Holds a doubles record of 7-4 with Kong.
 
SHOCKERS JOIN TEAM RANKINGS 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 – No. 40
March 12 – NR
March 19 – No. 44
 
ON THE MEAN GREEN
ITA Ranking: NR
North Texas holds a 9-6 record coming into the match with the Shockers. They hold wins over Abilene Christian, Lamar, UTEP, Sam Houston State, WKU, Arizona, Northwestern State, Marshall and Louisiana Tech.
 
WSU has the upper hand in the all-time series, leading 12-5. Head Coach Colin Foster is 5-1 versus the Mean Green. WSU won in their last meeting on March 10 in Rancho Mirage, Calif, 4-2.

Tamuna Kutubidze- (ITA, No. 77)- holds a 9-1 record in flights one and two for the Mean Green. Is 5-1 in flight one and 4-0 in the second slot.
 
Ivana Babic – holds a 7-1 record, mainly in the sixth flight.

 Kutubidze and Maria Kononova – (ITA, No. 44) – are a perfect 6-0 on court one for North Texas. Babic and Alexandra Heczey are 6-4 in the second slot.
 

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 6-7 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-