DALLAS – After almost four hours of match play, the 74th ranked and 7th-seeded Wichita State women's tennis team lost in heartbreaking fashion in the American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals to the two-seed and 43rd ranked Charlotte 49ers on Friday evening, 4-3, at Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex.
 
The loss for the Shockers (13-10) eliminates the Black and Yellow from the AAC Championship and ends their season. Charlotte (19-7) continues on to face either six-seed Florida Atlantic or three-seed Memphis tomorrow at 2:00 PM Central Time in Dallas.
 
In doubles, the Shockers fell behind after Jessica Anzo and Kristina Kudryavtseva went down 6-2 at court one to start the match, but Natsumi Kurahashi and Xin Tong Wang responded with a 6-2 win of their own at court two, to send the doubles point to court three to be decided. 
 
At court three, Theodora Chantava and Giorgia Roselli used an early 4-2 lead to carry them to a 6-4 victory, and clinch the doubles point for the Shockers.
 
In singles, the Shockers started rough, losing the first set on each of the top three courts, but the Shockers were able to battle back with a strong performance at the bottom half of the courts to remain competitive.
 
Charlotte would earn their first point of the evening with a defeat of Kurahashi at court two, 6-2, 6-1, but Kudryavtseva found a swift response with a 6-2, 6-2 win at court four to make it 2-1 Shockers.
 
Chantava would lose a close match at court three 6-3, 6-4, to tie match at 2-2.
 
A 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-0, win for the 49ers over Wang at court one gave Charlotte their first lead of the match.
 
Anzo would manage to grind out a win at court six, 7-5, 7-6 (3), to even the match at three-all, leaving freshman Roselli to decide the match at court five.
 
After taking the first set 7-6 (3) from Charlotte's Shona Nakano, the 49er battled back to win a tight second set 6-4, to send the match into a third set. 
 
In the third set, WSU's Roselli took command early, jumping out a 4-1 lead, but Nakano battled back to win four straight games to take a 5-4 lead. It came down to a deuce point in game ten, but Roselli's return sailed just long, lifting Charlotte into the AAC Semifinals.
 
"I am so proud of the effort and the way we competed today and all season," Head Coach Colin Foster said. "We created opportunities down the stretch to win, but Charlotte just played a little better down the stretch."
 
The Shockers end the year 13-10, their most wins in a season since 2019, and the Shockers' won their first match in the AAC Championship since 2019 with Thursday's 4-0 win over Tulsa.