HOUSTON — No. 28 Wichita State was upended by third-seeded Rice by a score of 4-2 on Sunday in the American Championship match at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
 
Rice (17-6) snapped the Shockers' (21-4) 19-match winning streak and earned the American's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tennis Tournament.
 
In doubles, Wichita State started strong as Kristina Kudryavtseva and Theodora Chantava won 6-2 at No. 2. Rice answered with a 6-4 victory at No. 1, sending the doubles point to No. 3.
 
At No. 3, Anne Knuettel and Vichitraporn Vimuktananda battled to win a dramatic tiebreak, taking the match 7-6 (4) to clinch the doubles point for the Shockers.
 
In singles, Rice responded by winning five of the six first sets.
 
Wang, the lone Shocker to win her opening set, dominated at No. 1 singles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory to put Wichita State ahead 2-0.
 
Rice got on the board with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Vimuktananda at No. 2 and evened the match soon after with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Tatyana Nikolenko at No. 6.
 
Tied 2-2, the remaining three matches all went to third sets.
 
The Owls took the lead with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Chantava at No. 3, moving within one point of victory.
 
Both of the remaining matches were tightly contested, but Rice secured the win with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Roselli to clinch the American Conference Championship.
 
Up next
The Shockers await a bid to the NCAA Tennis Tournament, which begins May 1.