WICHITA, Kan. – After taking down two ranked opponents last week, the Wichita State women's tennis team entered the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Poll for the first time in the 2024 season on Tuesday.
 
The Shockers (10-5) are ranked 55th in the poll, one spot behind American Athletic Conference foe Memphis and one spot ahead of UC-Santa Barbara. The 55th ranking is the highest ranking for the Shockers since March 19, 2019, when they were ranked 44th.
 
Head Coach Colin Foster was glad to see his team's hard work lead to a national ranking.
 
"This team has consistently worked very hard throughout the season," said Foster. "We had a ten-day stretch where our season went from halfway complete to being 75% complete. We knew it would be an important stretch and the team responded really well."
 
Wichita State climbs into the poll after going 3-1 in their spring break gauntlet last week. The Shockers defeated North Texas, No. 66 Liberty, and No. 47 Denver, before ending the week with a loss to No. 52 Charlotte.
 
WSU is one of seven teams from the AAC to appear in this week's poll with SMU being ranked the highest at No. 43.
 
AAC teams in this week's poll: SMU (43), Charlotte (48), Memphis (54), Wichita State (55), South Florida (57), Florida Atlantic (64), Tulane (72)
 
"Obviously as a coach, you're constantly looking at where you can keep getting better and that's our job now – to get better," said Foster. "We have several more opportunities before the conference tournament and if we keep improving and learning, then the results and rankings will come."
 
The Shockers have the week off from match action, but will return to the courts on Saturday, March 30, in Memphis, Tennessee for a battle with the UAB Blazers, followed by a match the next day against the hometown and 54th ranked Memphis Tigers.