Box Score STILLWATER, Okla. – Wichita State lost six of its nine doubles matches last weekend in Dallas, but head coach Colin Foster liked what he saw. Or at least parts of it. Enough to convince him to stick with the same combinations.
 
"Results were mixed," Foster said. "But we noticed that the times where we played more aggressively, we were usually rewarded."
 
Foster encouraged his players to take more risks, and that approach paid dividends in this weekend's ITA Central Region Championships, held at Oklahoma State University's Greenwood Tennis Complex.
 
Shocker doubles teams combined to go 5-2 with wins over two of the tournament's top seeds, and the duo of Lingwei Kong and Natsumi Kurahashi reached the quarterfinal round.
 
"It was very encouraging and hopefully shows the entire team that bravery, especially under pressure, is usually rewarded in the win-loss column," Foster said. "I know Lingwei and Natsu will take a lot of confidence and belief from this and will be hungry to get even better."
 
Kong and Kurahashi (0-3 coming in) notched three wins in three days – the last in a tiebreaker against Iowa State's fourth-seeded pairing of Sofia Cabezas and Thasaporn Nakio, 8-7 (6) -- to become the first Shocker duo to reach the quarterfinals at this event since 2014.
 
Their run ended Sunday morning with an 8-5 loss to eventual finalists, Anet Koskel and Zoey Weil of Minnesota.
 
Five of the six Shocker individuals won their singles openers.
 
Kong, Jessica Anzo and Kristina Kudryavtseva all captured first-round matches on Friday in the main draw but fell to well-rested opponents later in the afternoon. The rising heat took its toll on Anzo, who played deep into a third set against No. 17 seed, Alana Wolfberg of Oklahoma State, before retiring down 3-6, 6-3, 5-4.
 
Out of precaution, Anzo and Kudryavtseva were also removed from the doubles draw prior to their Round of 16 match. They finished the weekend 2-0 with a pair of 8-4 wins over opponents from Minnesota and Kansas State. The latter was seeded 15^th.
 
"Jessica was playing great tennis," Foster said. "Unfortunately, the hot conditions started to get the best of her during her seventh set of tennis on Friday, and she was unable to complete what was quite a battle with Wolfberg. She showed she's one of the best players in the region both in singles and doubles and can be a force at the top of our lineup."
 
Harriet Hamilton played five singles matches of her own in just over 48 hours and won three of them. She advanced through qualifying with a pair of Thursday victories and bounced back from a first-round loss in the main draw to advance to the consolation bracket's Round of 16.
 
Clara Whitaker also won her opener in Thursday's qualifying but fell a victory short of the main draw.
 

---

 
ITA CENTRAL REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oct. 13-17, 2022
Stillwater, Okla. | Greenwood Tennis Complex
 
THURSDAY RESULTS:
 
Singles Qualifying // Round 1 of 2:
Clara Whitaker (WSU) def. Kylin Sadler (Kansas) – 6-2, 6-7(4), (10-4)
Harriet Hamilton (WSU) def. Luna Morini (ORU) – 6-1, 7-5
 
Singles Qualifying // Round 2 of 2:
Hamilton (WSU) def. Rebecca Ehn (Drake) – 7-5, 6-2
Millie Haagensen (Drake) def. Whitaker (WSU) – 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles // Round of 64
Elizabeth Mintsova/Kseniia Aleshina (SLU) def. Hamilton/Whitaker (WSU) – 8-4
Kong/Kurahashi (WSU) def. Angela Georgieva/Nyah Kauders (NDU) – 8-2
Anzo/Kudryavtseva (WSU) def. Sofia Pizzoni/Lucy Lu (MIN) – 8-4
 
###
 
FRIDAY RESULTS:
 
Doubles // Round of 32
Kong/Kurahashi (WSU) def. Mariana Manyoma Velasquez/Jocelyn Massey (KU) – 8-6
Anzo/Kudryavtseva (WSU) def. [15] Florentine Dekkers/Manami Ukita (KSU) – 8-4
 
Singles // Main Draw, Round of 96
Jessica Anzo (WSU) def. Lily Hutchings (TLS) – 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
Lingwei Kong (WSU) def. Christin Hsieh (ISU) – 6-1, 7-5
Gabriela Martinez Asensi (MIZ) def. Harriet Hamilton (WSU) – 6-2, 6-0
Kristina Kudryavtseva (WSU) def. Elizabeth Mintusova (SLU) – 6-3, 6-1
Rosanna Maffei (KSU) def. Natsumi Kurahashi (WSU) – 7-6, 3-6, 6-1  
 
Singles // Consolation, Round of 32
Hamilton (WSU) def. Amber Hochstatter (OSU) – 6-3, 6-0
Kurahashi withdrew
 
Singles // Main Draw, Round of 64
[17] Alana Wolfberg (OSU) def. Jessica Anzo (WSU) -- 3-6, 6-3, 5-4 ret.
[9] Kelly Keller (ARK) def. Lingwei Kong (WSU) – 6-4, 6-2
[18] Carolina Gomez Alonso (ARK) def. Kristina Kudryavtseva (WSU) – 6-1, 6-0
 
###
 
SATURDAY RESULTS:
 
Doubles // Round of 16
Kong/Kurahashi (WSU) def. [4] Sofia Cabezas/Thasaporn Nakio (ISU) – 8-7(6)
[6] Julia Garcia Ruiz/Dana Guzman (OU) def. Anzo/Kudryavtseva (WSU) – walkover (injury)
 
Singles // Consolation, Round of 16
Hsieh (ISU) def. Hamilton (WSU) – 6-0, retired
 
Singles // Extra Matches:
Ksenia Shikanova (SEMO) def. Whitaker (WSU) – 6-2, 6-4
Cosima Trinity Calinescu (SEMO) def. Kudryavtseva (WSU) – 3-6, 7-6(4), 1-6

###
 
SUNDAY RESULTS:
 
Doubles // Quarterfinals:
[12] Anet Koskel/Zoey Weil (MIN) def. Kong/Kurahashi (WSU) – 8-5