PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – The Wichita State women's tennis team withstood a charge from the 66th ranked Liberty Flames on Wednesday afternoon to pick up a massive 4-2 win.
 
The Shockers (9-4) have won four straight matches while Liberty (7-5) suffers their fourth loss in their last six matches.
 
Head coach Colin Foster was incredibly excited to get the win.
 
"I'm pretty speechless to be honest," said Foster. "That was two days in a row of competition at its finest."
 
After losing the doubles point yesterday to North Texas, the Shockers came out firing, crushing the Flames in doubles with a 6-0 win by Xin Tong Wang and Natsumi Kurahashi at court two, and a 6-3 win by Jessica Anzo and Kristina Kudryavtseva at court one. 
 
Singles was a tremendous battle, with all courts going back-and-forth all the way through. 
 
Liberty would strike first with a win over Kurahashi at court one, 6-0, 6-4, before Wang would respond with a 6-2, 6-3 win at court two to make it 2-1 Shockers.
 
Playing in her first match since February 18 against Fordham, Anne Knuettel rallied to win her match at court six in a three-set bout. Knuettel lost the first set 6-2, before roaring back to win set two, 6-1 and set three, 6-4 to take the point and make it 3-1 Shockers. 
 
Next, Anzo would be defeated in an extremely close match at court four, 7-6 (5), 6-4, to pull the Flames within a point.
 
Things looked grim for the Shockers after Anzo's defeat, as both remaining Shockers were deep in holes in third sets that they would need to climb out of in order for the Shockers to pull out a win. 
 
Theodora Chantava trailed 2-5 and Giorgia Roselli trailed 2-4 in their third sets at courts three and five, respectively. Both would battle back to tie their sets at 5-5 and shift the pressure onto Liberty. The Flames couldn't handle the heat, as Roselli won five of the last six games in her final set to take her match and clinch the win for the Shockers, 4-2.
 
"I'm just so proud of everyone in this group to face adversity time and again and not move an inch," said Foster. "We had lots of growth so far this week, but there's lots more work to be done this weekend and we're excited for this next part of our trip."
 
The Shockers will now travel to the other side of the country for a pair of matches against ranked opponents this weekend, both in Charlotte, North Carolina. The first is against 47th ranked Denver on Saturday at 12:00 PM and the second is against 52nd ranked and host Charlotte at 10:00 AM the following day.