ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Wichita State women's tennis team will be the No. 5 seed in this week's American Athletic Conference Championship, Wednesday through Saturday at the USTA National Campus.
 
The Shockers (12-9) have earned a first-round bye and will open Thursday at 8 a.m. CT against No. 4 seed Tulsa (13-10 and slotted No. 72 in this week's ITA Division I rankings).
 
The winner advances to Friday's semifinal round for a 2 p.m. CT matchup with either top seed SMU, No. 8 Tulane or No. 9 Temple.
 
The championship match takes place Saturday at 3 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN+.
 
Fans can follow live scoring and more through the event by visiting American.org/wtennis.
 
WSU fell 4-3 to the Golden Hurricane earlier this season in Tulsa. Kristina Kudryavtseva, Theodora Chantava and Harriet Hamilton won singles matches on courts 4-6, but Tulsa took the doubles point and swept Nos. 1-3 singles. Lily Hutchings tipped the scales in Tulsa's favor at No. 3 with a 0-6, 7-6 (8), 6-2 victory over WSU's Longwei Kong.
 
WSU is 24-20 all-time against Tulsa, helped by an 18-match winning streak that stretched from 1980-96. Tulsa has won six of the seven AAC era meetings between the schools with WSU's 4-3 victory in Wichita on Apr. 12, 2019 as the lone exception. The Hurricane bounced the Shockers in the semifinals of the 2018 AAC tournament and in the 2019 quarterfinals.
 
The Shockers last won a match at this event in 2019 when they blanked No. 12 seed UConn 4-0 in the first round as the No. 5 seed. The 2018 semifinal run was their best in four appearances. In 2022 in Tulsa, No. 10 seed WSU fell 5-1 to No. 7 Cincinnati in the first round.
 
WSU enters this year's postseason with wins in five of its last six duals. The Shockers' 12-9 regular season mark is a four-win improvement from last season when they finished up 8-13 and their highest victory total since the 2018-19 campaign. Three of the six projected players in the singles lineup are newcomers.
 
Projected Singles Lineup:
1. Lingwei Kong (Gr.) – 11-16 (8-12) is the last holdover from WSU's 2019 squad.
2. Natsumi Kurahashi (R-Jr.) – 12-14 (8-8) competes in her third AAC Championship.
3. Jessica Anzo (Gr.) – 9-14 (6-11) makes her AAC debut after transferring from Texas A&M.
4. Kristina Kudryavtseva (Fr.) – 16-13 (11-6) has won four of her last five matches.
5. Theodora Chantava (Fr.) – 12-9 (11-7) rides a four-match winning streak.
6. Harriet Hamilton (Gr.) – 19-11 (13-3) has an 8-1 record in her last 10 starts.