Women's Tennis | 10/7/2025 5:21:00 PM

 Listen to a podcast with new Shocker coach Jacob Eddins

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Colin Foster spent 16 years as the coach of Wichita State's women's tennis team. He guided the Shockers to their highest final national ranking, the most conference titles and the most NCAA appearances.
 
He accomplished all that while keeping tennis in proper perspective and making a competitive NCAA Division I sport a family event.
 
"He genuinely cared about how we were doing," said Abby Stevens, who played for Wichita State from 2013-16. "It's not just about tennis, and that was a huge perk. We were always like family. He made it that way because of how he treated us and cared about us."
 
Earlier this fall, Foster wrapped up his tenure at WSU to become director of tennis at Wichita Country Club. He replaces Rex Coad, a member of the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame for his playing and coaching career, at WCC.
 

Foster, who started in 2009 after three seasons as assistant coach at TCU, took over for Chris Young and continued the program's success as a first-time head coach. Foster went 251-150 to become WSU's career wins leader with nine NCAA appearances and eight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles. While competition in the American Conference made his job harder, Foster directed WSU to winning records and a return to the national rankings over the past three seasons.
 
"Colin was always so supportive," said Kristina Kudryavtseva, a senior on the current team. "He always knew what to tell us exactly in different moments. On court. Off court. Off the court, he cared a lot about us."
 
That atmosphere showed in many ways.

Foster's team regularly earned ITA All-Academic team awards, with seven Shockers named ITA Scholar Athletes from 2024-25. He and his coaches blended athletes from across the globe each year with team meals, patience and understanding. Community service, such as meeting with elementary students, mattered to the Shockers. Kewa, his wife and former assistant coach, and their four children were fixtures around the team.
 
After 16 years, he can look back on a generation of Shockers who grew up in his program.
 
"It's always really neat to watch them as their lives progress," Foster said. "They are in their careers, raising families, and it's fun to follow them."
 
His former players say moving to WCC is the perfect role for Foster, who also prioritized teaching tennis, connecting his program to Wichitans and putting the sport into the public eye as much as possible.
 
"Wichita is really a tennis-oriented community," said Lucy Kovalova, who played from 2011-15. "He loved promoting the sport."
 
Several of his former Shockers will teach tennis with him at WCC. His work in the community exposed his team members to potential mentors and employers.
 
"I viewed myself as a tennis coach, always, and not just the Wichita State tennis coach," he said. "It was always exciting to bring the game to more people."
 
When Foster started in 2009, he inherited five scholarship players and a walk-on. His biggest accomplishment was retaining Luftiana Budiharto, who considered transferring after playing No. 2 singles.
 

"She was a little nervous that the program was going to completely fall apart," he said.
 
Foster showed Budiharto video of incoming recruits. She stayed to earn MVC Player of the Year honors in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and twice qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships.
 
"She was all in after that," Foster said. "She was a super hard worker and a great player. With her anchoring the top of the lineup, I felt like 'All right,' this is how it goes. I'm off and running.'"
 
The additions of athletes such as Kovalova, Veronika Blaskova, Montse Blasco and others set the Shockers on course for MVC domination. Later, Julia Schiller, Gabriela Porubin and Giulia Guidetti joined Budiharto as Player of the Year winners. Porubin, Fatima Bizhukova and current Shocker Xin Tong Wang qualified for NCAA play.
 
"We felt like we were going to keep running (the MVC) going forward, and we continued to do so," he said.
 
His 2015-16 team peaked at No. 13 in the ITA national rankings and ended the season No. 30 with a 27-4 record.
 
In 2018, the Shockers defeated Syracuse 4-2 to win the program's second NCAA match.
 
"He always pushed us to be our best," Stevens said. "I always felt like he had my back in matches. If a girl was struggling, he was always there for us."
 
Foster's legacy is that he was there for his athletes, on the court and off.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
 
Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.