WICHITA, Kan.- The No. 62 Wichita State women's tennis team
will start their team season on Wednesday, January 16 when they travel to
Tulsa, Okla. for a match against Oral Roberts.
The Golden Eagles are coming into their first season as
members of the Southland Conference, after previously competing in the Summit
League. During 2011-12, Oral Roberts went 13-6 during the spring season,
including a perfect 8-0 in their final season in the conference. They defeated
IPFW in the finals of the conference tournament, 4-3, to earn a birth into the
NCAA Tournament, where Baylor defeated them in the first round, 4-0.
Tori Dollar and Marizanne Bouwer, who went a combined 19-9
in singles competition during the 2011-12 season, return for the Golden Eagles.
They will be looking to replace the production of Summit League Player of the
Year, Iryna Khatsko, who graduated after last season.
The Shockers are coming off their fourth consecutive
Missouri Valley Conference championship and third under MVC Coach of the Year,
Colin Foster. Going 21-6, including 7-0 in conference play in 2011-12, the
Shocker women also competed in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive
year. They were defeated by Big 12 foe Texas, 4-0, in the first round.
Veronika Blaskova, Montse Blasco Fernandez, Lucia Kovalova,
Satjaporn Mahajaroenkul and Carla Venticinque all return for the Shockers. The
five players come with experience, earning a combined 103 singles victories in
2011-12. Blaskova and Kovalova, who went 9-2 in doubles competition during the
fall, come in at No. 9 in the ITA Central Region rankings.
Joining them will be freshmen Rebecca Pedrazzi, Julia
Schiller, Summer Schlotterback and Masa Smic. Pedrazzi was impressive during
the fall season, going 7-3 in singles competition and capturing the MVC
Individual Championship at the No. 4 position. She is also ranked No. 20 in the
ITA Central Region singles rankings.
The match will begin at 9:30 a.m. and results will be posted
on GoShockers.com after the completion of play.
-WICHITA STATE-
