HOUSTON — Wichita State extended its winning streak to 10 matches with a 4-3 road victory over Rice on Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
 
The win for the Shockers (12-3) over No. 42 Rice (7-4) was their first over a top-50 opponent since March 16, 2024, when they defeated No. 47 Denver, 4-1. It is also their highest-ranked win since beating No. 39 Gonzaga on March 11, 2019.
 
"Today was another gritty team victory," head coach Jacob Eddins said. "We got off to a great start in doubles and it was huge to get that first point on the board."
 
In doubles, Wichita State grabbed the early edge as Theodora Chantava and Kristina Kudryavtseva picked up a 6-3 win at No. 2.
 
Down 4-5 at both No. 1 and No. 3, the remaining Shocker pairs rallied to take 6-5 leads. No. 12-ranked Xin Tong Wang and Giorgia Roselli finished off their match with a 7-5 win at No. 1 to secure the doubles point for Wichita State. It was the Shockers' 12th doubles point of the year and their 11th in a row.
In singles, Rice rebounded from its doubles loss, taking four of the six first sets.
 
The Owls tied the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kudryavtseva at No. 4, but Roselli answered for the Shockers with a 6-4, 6-0 victory at No. 2 to put Wichita State back in front.
 
Rice evened the match again with a narrow 6-4, 6-4 win over Chantava at No. 3, making the score 2-2.
With the remaining three matches headed to third sets, Wang defeated her opponent at No. 1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, to put the Shockers one point away from victory.
 
The Owls outlasted Tatyana Nikolenko at No. 6, winning 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, leaving the match to be decided at No. 5.
 
In the final match on court, Vichitraporn Vimuktananda came through for Wichita State, winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the ranked road victory. It was Vimuktananda's fifth match-clinching win for Wichita State this season and her second in a 4-3 decision.
 
"Credit to Rice for its response after losing doubles to take four first sets, but our girls stuck with it and battled back to give each other a chance to win," Eddins said. "I am so proud of this group for playing with confidence in the big moments of this match and giving us another great win on the road against a really talented Rice team."
 
Up next
Wichita State heads west for a pair of matches in California against Arkansas State and Long Beach State.