Wichita State Athletics

Wichita State's all-time wins leader, Colin Foster (251-150), .6225) has guided the Shockers to nine NCAA tournament appearances and eight conference tournament titles in 16 seasons as head coach (2009-24).

The Shockers have appeared in 106 different sets of national team rankings under Foster, climbing as high as No. 13 in March of 2016. Individuals have also thrived with six singles players and 10 different doubles tandems earning ITA national singles rankings at some point in their careers.

Foster has coached 45 singles players and 11 doubles tandems to all-conference honors. Six Shockers have earned conference player of the year status, with three-time honoree Lutfiana Budiharto (2010-12) followed by Julia Schiller (2014), Gabriela Porubin (2016), and Giulia Guidetti (2017).

Under Foster's watch, four singles players and two doubles tandems have earned bids to the NCAA Individual Championships. Xin Tong Wang became the fourth Shocker to qualify for NCAA Individuals in 2024 by reaching the singles final of the Central Region Championships.
Budiharto -- a 2020 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame inductee -- qualified twice (2010, 12), while Porubin and Fatima Bizhukova made the draw in 2016 and 2018. Stephanie Delmacia and Delia Damaschin made an appearance in 2010 and Bizhukova teamed with Marta Bellucco for a 2019 trip.

Another of Foster's former charges, Lucy Kovalova (2011-15) has gone on to stardom in the sport of pickleball, winning a U.S. Open mixed doubles title and climbing the top of the world doubles rankings.

In the 2024-25 season, Wichita State put together another impressive campaign against an adversarial schedule, going 13-10 with six wins over opponents who were ranked at some point during the season. These wins included a home upset win over Kentucky and a road vanquishing of rival Tulsa, both teams that ended the year ranked in the top 50. Foster's Shockers were ranked in all of the ITA's top 75 rankings of the 2025 season, climaxing at No. 47 on March 18 after beating back-to-back ranked opponents in Tulane and Princeton. Additionally, Foster crossed the 250-win mark in his career with a 4-0 win over North Texas on April 4. The Shockers ended the year ranked No. 60, their first time ending a year ranked since 2018. The team was also ranked No. 7 in the ITA Central Region and No. 15 in the ITA Mid-Major top 25 poll.

In the 2023-24 season, the Shockers took on another loaded schedule, facing six different ranked opponents and still managed to post a record of 13-10. The biggest victory of the season for the Shockers came on March 16, when the Shockers took down No. 47 ranked Denver, their highest ranked win in three years. During the season, the Shockers reached a national ranking as high as 55th, their best ranking since the 2019 season. Additionally, Foster led the Shockers to their first win at the AAC Championship since 2019 with a win in the opening round over Tulsa, 4-0.

Injuries derailed the 2021-22 season, forcing WSU to play the final six weeks with just five healthy players, but Foster returned the program to its winning ways in 2022-23 with two weeks in the ITA national team rankings. Against a loaded schedule, the Shockers posted a 12-10 mark highlighted by road victories over No. 49 Nebraska and in-state rival Kansas State. WSU also reestablished its home court dominance with a perfect 7-0 record in Wichita.

Foster notched his 200th career win during the 2020-21 campaign. On Mar. 20, 2021, a large crowd at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex watched the Shockers down 45th-ranked Kansas by a 4-3 count.

Foster would have likely reached that mark during the 2019-20 season, had it not been canceled in early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2018-19 squad finished 14-10, climbing as high as No. 36 in the ITA team rankings. They were led by the duo of Bellucco and Bizhukova, who went wire-to-wire in the national doubles rankings, finishing at No. 33. They became the first tandem in Shocker history to reach the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships and just the fourth to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship. Bizhukova excelled in singles, as well, earning all-conference honors in The American for a second consecutive year. On Mar. 11, 2019, she upset seventh-ranked Sophie Whittle of Gonzaga.

A 4-0 win over Creighton on Feb. 17, 2019, was Foster's 179th at WSU, surpassing former head coach Les Stafford (178 from 1990-2004) for the most in Shocker history.

Foster notched WSU's first postseason win in over a decade and came within an eyelash of the Sweet 16 in 2017-18 while transitioning into the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers went 18-9, capped by their 10th-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and the program's first-ever at-large berth. Playing in Starkville, Miss., WSU stunned Syracuse in the first round and had top seed Mississippi State on the ropes the following day in an eventual 4-3 loss. The Shockers defeated four nationally-ranked opponents and finished at No. 32 in the final ITA rankings.

Bizhukova, a standout sophomore from Balashiha, Russia, climbed as high as No. 55 on the ITA singles chart. She defeated five nationally-ranked singles opponents, including straight-set wins over the Nos. 3 and 5 players in the ITA rankings, to earn all-conference status (WSU's first of the AAC era) and a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship. In doubles, she paired with Bellucco for a 10-4 dual mark with four nationally-ranked wins, the last over Syracuse's eighth-ranked tandem of Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez.

Under Foster's leadership, the Shockers were a Missouri Valley Conference juggernaut. From Foster's arrival in August of 2009 until WSU's exit from the conference in July, 2017, WSU went a perfect 78-0 again MVC opponents, winning eight regular season titles (55-0) and eight tournament crowns (23-0). He was named MVC coach of the year in five different seasons.

In 2016-17, the team reloaded after losing four key seniors to win their ninth-straight Missouri Valley Conference title. The streak broke an MVC record for consecutive conference championships in any women's sport, snapping Missouri State's swimming and diving streak from 2008-15. The team reached as high as No. 35 in the ITA national rankings.

For the second year in a row, the Shockers swept all six singles spots on the all-MVC list, and also took two of three doubles spots. Junior Giulia Guidetti won the conference Player of the year award, and broke the program record for singles wins in a two-year span with 63. The team closed out the regular season by winning 13 of its last 14 duals before falling to 19th-ranked Arkansas, 4-2, in the first round of the Stillwater Regional.

In 2015-16, a veteran cast led by four seniors, compiled a 27-4 mark and finished with the highest ITA final ranking ever by a Shocker women's tennis team (No. 30). They also extended their school-record home winning streak to 36 matches after closing our their third-straight unbeaten home schedule (11-0).

The team tied a program mark for dual wins in a season (27) despite playing 13 matches against nationally-ranked team. The Shockers excelled down the stretch, putting together a school-record run of 17-straight wins over the final two months of the regular season and going the entire month of April without surrendering a dual point.

Guidetti broke a 32-year old school record with 39 singles wins, and senior Rebecca Pedrazzi finished a victory shy of the school's doubles mark, with 32. The Shockers swept All-MVC honors at all six singles spots and two of the three doubles positions, with player of the year Porubin qualifying for the NCAA Individual Championships.

The team outscored MVC foes 56-1 in ten duals and rolled to regular season and conference tournament titles. For the first time ever, WSU went into an NCAA First Round match as the favorite but fell 4-3 to TCU in Coral Gables, Fla.

It was a similar fate to the one suffered by the 2014-15 team, which finished 24-4 and dropped a 4-3 decision to Georgia Tech in the NCAA First Round.

Ranked as high as No. 22 nationally during the month of March, the Shockers swept all seven Valley matches and won 47 of a possible 49 points during MVC regular season play, capped by an impressive showing in the finale. WSU and Drake - both 6-0 heading into the final weekend - staged a winner-take-all battle for the crown, but the Shockers removed any lingering drama with a 7-0 sweep.

WSU and Drake met again in the MVC Tournament Championship, but the rematch played out in similar fashion. The Shockers earned a 4-0 win to stake the 17th conference tournament title in school history.

Ranked 36th on the ITA Division I list, the Shockers earned an NCAA Tournament trip to Gainesville, Fla. and a First Round date with No. 24 Georgia Tech. WSU won the doubles points and held a 3-2 advantage in the match, but the Yellow Jackets rallied for a 4-3 win.

The Shockers placed all six regulars on the All-Valley teams, with Porubin, Pedrazzi, Abby Stevens, Lucia Kovalova and Aleks Trifunovic sweeping first team honors at the Nos 2-6 spots. Julia Schiller made the All-Select team and teamed with Porubin for all-conference honors at No. 2 doubles.

Stevens (31-7) and Trifunovic (31-4) became the fifth and sixth players in the program's 40-plus year history to notch 30 wins or more.

Foster earned MVC Coach of the Year honors for the second-straight season, and Porubin became the fourth Shocker in five years to earn Freshman of the Year.

In 2013-14, the Shockers excelled against a rugged regular-season schedule that pitted them against nationally-ranked foes in 10 of their first 17 matches. They were up for the challenge, though, navigating that stretch with an 11-5 mark. Already battle-tested, WSU swept six MVC regular season and two MVC tournament tilts by a combined score of 52-4 to secure another postseason bid. The No. 55 Shockers dropped a tough 4-2 decision to No. 18 Oklahoma in Coral Gables, Fla. to finish out their season at 19-7.

Led by Schiller (the MVC Player of the Year) and Pedrazzi at No. 1 and 2 singles, WSU placed five on the all-conference team. Veronika Blaskova was All-MVC at No. 6 singles, Lucia Kovalova earned All-Select status, and the team of Schiller and Stevens was honored at No. 2 Doubles.

During the 2012-13 season, Foster helped Wichita State continue it's dominance in the Missouri Valley Conference by capturing the regular season and tournament titles for the fifth straight year. The Shockers played a tough non-conference schedule that prepared them for the conference season, finishing with a record of 15-11 on the season and 7-0 in conference play. Pedrazzi earned MVC Freshman of the Year honors, giving a Wichita State freshman the award for the third consecutive year. 

In his third season at the helm for the Shockers (2011-12), Foster led his team to a fourth consecutive MVC Championship. The Shockers were 21-6 overall on the season, including 7-0 in the conference season, moving Foster's MVC record to a perfect 21-0. The Shockers won the MVC tournament, moving themselves into the NCAA Tournament where they lost to Texas in the first round. With the guidance of Foster, the Shockers ended the season with a final ITA ranking of 62.

During the 2010-11 season, Foster led the Shockers to a 17-10 record and another perfect 7-0 record in the MVC. They defeated Illinois State in finals of the conference tournament, earning a birth into the NCAA Tournament. The Shockers fell to Clemson in the first round.

In his first year (2009-10) Foster led the Shockers to a 15-11 overall record and a perfect 7-0 in the MVC.  The Shockers defeated Illinois State to capture the 2010 MVC Conference Tournament, their 12th championship in school history.  With the victory they earned their fourth NCAA tournament berth in school history.

As an Assistant:
In his three seasons with the Horned Frogs, Foster helped create a Mountain West Conference power. He helped guide TCU to the NCAA Tournament in each of his three seasons in Fort Worth, sending players to the NCAA Individual Championships each year as well.

Foster mentored three All-Americans as an assistant, and was twice voted the ITA Southwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2009. The Horned Frogs won a pair of regular season championships during his time there, including the 2009 Mountain West Conference Tournament title.

Playing Career:
Before launching his coaching career, Foster enjoyed a highly successful playing career at Purdue. He spent the majority of his senior year competing in the No. 1 position and finished his career as the team's Most Valuable Player. The Western Springs, Ill., native was also successful in the classroom, being named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team every year.
 

Jeff Hammond, Former Head Coach, TCU

"I'm really happy for Colin. A great program has found a great coach. It's a great match for both sides, and he'll do very well there. I'm extremely proud of him."

"[At TCU] Colin has taken the team and individual players to an extremely high level during his time here. There's no doubt he'll continue to do that in the future. He has a great tennis mind."

Jay Louderback, Former Head Coach, Notre Dame

"I've had the chance to coach against him at the NCAA tournament quite a few times. I was very impressed with how he handled his kids. He was terrific with on-court adjustments during matches to put his kids in a good position to win. I think he'll be a great fit at WSU."

"It seems like his kids always really like playing for him. It always helps you when your kids respect you and enjoy playing for you. He'll work them hard, but they'll enjoy him, too."

Mat Iandolo, Head Coach, UNC Greensboro

"I've known Colin since he was a freshman at Purdue [while coaching women's tennis at Purdue]. I've really enjoyed watching him develop from a very good college player to a great college coach. Now he's been given the shot at coaching at a nationally ranked collegiate level, and I look forward to watching him excel there, too."

"I've known him for quite a while. He's a great guy with a great personality. He will be well-liked at WSU."