TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 47 Wichita State women's tennis team survived a strong upset bid from the South Florida Bulls, grinding out a 4-2 win on Wednesday afternoon at USF Tennis Courts.
 
The Shockers (10-6) extended their winning streak to four matches with the win while South Florida (5-12) saw their losing streak increase to three matches.

"We've seen so many positives during this trip," Head Coach Colin Foster said. "Today was an extremely difficult match against a hungry South Florida team."
 
In doubles, South Florida took big early leads on all three courts over Wichita State, striking first at court two with a 6-3 win over Kristina Kudryavtseva and Theodora Chantava. Later, Giorgia Roselli and Xin Tong Wang overcame a 3-1 deficit to win 6-4 at court one, sending doubles to be decided at court three.
 
At court three, Anne Knuettel and Tatyana Nikolenko fell in 3-0 and 5-1 holes that were just too much to climb out of as they lost 6-4, giving USF the doubles point.
 
In singles, the Shockers took some momentum away from South Florida, winning first sets on four of six courts.
 
Knuettel responded to her doubles loss by crushing her opponent at court six, winning 6-2, 6-0 to tie the match 1-1.
 
Next, Roselli lost a tough match at court two 7-5, 6-3, giving South Florida a 2-1 lead.
 
Later, Chantava ground out a 7-6 (0), 6-4 win at court four, retying the match at 2-2.
 
After dropping a tight first set, Wang seized control of her match dominating her second and third sets to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 to give the Shockers their first lead of the day at 3-2.
 
Down to Nikolenko and Kudryavtseva, both went to third sets to decide their matches.
 
Kudryavtseva started out down 3-0 in the third, before rallying to win five straight games and take a 5-3 lead. Her opponent fought off two match points to make it 5-4 and then battled to force a deuce point in the next game giving the Bulls a chance to rally.
 
In the deuce point, South Florida had an excellent opportunity to win the point, but a fantastic lob from Kudryavtseva to the back corner followed by an excellent forehand shot gave the Shockers the win, 4-2, with Kudryavtseva winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

"We dropped doubles today, but stayed present and in a really difficult match," said Foster. "We've got a chance to rest and then make a big push through the end of the season."

Next up, the Shockers return home to face UTSA on March 30.