CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Wichita State women's tennis team defeated the shorthanded and 47th ranked Denver Pioneers 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at Charlotte's Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex.
 
The Shockers (10-4) collected their fifth consecutive victory and Denver (11-6) drops their second straight match after losing to Charlotte on Friday afternoon.
 
Head Coach Colin Foster was glad to bring the win home.
 
"Obviously, you never want an opponent to be shorthanded, but you can't control that," said Foster. "The situation of them being down a player added a bit of pressure on our shoulders, which was a good thing to experience."
 
The Shockers won the doubles point for the second straight match with a sweep of wins at all doubles courts. Giorgia Roselli and Theodora Chantava won by default at court three due to Denver only having five healthy players available for the match.
 
The Shocker duos at court one of Jessica Anzo and Kristina Kudryavtseva and of Natsumi Kurahashi and Xin Tong Wang at court two earned near simultaneous victories with the former winning 7-5 and the latter winning 6-4. 
 
Due to Denver missing a player, the Shockers grabbed the first point with another win by default at court six.
 
Wang would record the next point with a 6-1, 6-2 win at court two. The win is her ninth in a row and she is now 9-2 in singles in dual matches this season.
 
Kurahashi would go down at court one, 6-1, 6-3, to give the Pioneers their lone point of the afternoon.
 
Chantava would bring the match to an abrupt close with a win at court four, 6-2, 6-4, to end the match 4-1 in favor of Wichita State. The win for Chantava is her sixth in a row in singles and improves her to 9-1 this season.
 
"We know we have great depth, and four points can come from anywhere for us, which for a coach is really encouraging," said Foster. "We'll rest up and be ready for another tough one tomorrow."
 
The Shockers get no time off, as they will face off with 52nd ranked Charlotte on Sunday at 10:00 AM CT.