WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men's tennis team returns to action Saturday (March 9), as they take on New Mexico at the McKinnon Family Stadium in Albuquerque, N.M. The match is slated for 11 a.m.

SHOCKER SUMMARY
Wichita State (6-6) is coming off back-to-back top-50 wins, knocking off No. 43 Drake (4-2) last Friday in Wichita. WSU's other wins have come against Denver (5-2), UNC-Wilmington (4-0), Middle Tennessee State (4-3), Tennessee State (7-0) and No. 28 Dartmouth (4-2). Five of their six 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.

SCOUTING THE LOBOS
The Lobos sport a 2-5 record to start the spring season, with wins over Lamar and Pacific. Their losses have come against BYU, Utah, Loyola Marymount, Oregon and Texas Tech.
 
Facundo Bermejo leads the Lobos with a 3-1 dual singles record in flights five and six. In doubles, Ricky Hernandez Tong and Stepan Holis are 2-1 in the first flight.
 
The all-time series between the two is tied at six. The teams split a pair of matches last season, where WSU won over then No. 46 New Mexico 4-1 at the Pacific Invite. The latter match went in favor of the Lobos (4-3) in Wichita. Head Coach Danny Bryan is 1-1 all-time against New Mexico.
 
ROAD TO THE TOP
Six opponents the Shockers have faced are in the top-50 of the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings (March 5). Mississippi State (10), TCU (11), Minnesota (16), Oklahoma (18), Tennessee (25), and Darmouth (38).  

STRONG UP TOP
Senior Haru Inoue leads the Shockers in singles play, sporting a 6-2 record (2-1 1^st, 4-1 2^nd). Inoue Knocked off Scott Jones, who ranked No. 75 for Tennessee and No. 64 Tom Hands fo Drake in clinching fashion on March 1. His only losses have come to Alex Rybakov of TCU, who ranked No. 8 in singles play, and Stefan Milicevic of Minnesota. Marius Frosa is 6-3 in the third slot for WSU. The junior clinched the match at Middle Tennessee with an impressive come-from-behind win on Feb. 4. Murkel Dellien is 4-7 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.
 
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. 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.
 
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.