Wichita State women’s tennis is off to a strong start in Jacob Eddins’ first year at the helm, with wins over Texas State, former American Conference foe Southern Methodist, and both Iowa and Iowa State.
The Shockers have started 4-3 early this spring and bring more than a winning record with them.
“Our goal is to win the conference, and to play (in the) NCAA (tournament),” junior Giorgia Roselli said. “The mindset is try to play the hardest that we can and try to achieve our goal every day.”
Even though Eddins is in his first head coaching job at the collegiate, or any level, his priorities are to take each match one at a time to keep WSU grounded during its 2026 campaign.
“We’ve got a really talented group,” Eddins said. “We’re going to be tested early in the season, but I think it’s good for us to see where we are early. Then, hopefully be playing our best tennis by the end of the year.”
This year, the Shockers’ roster is made up of three sophomores, two juniors, four seniors and a graduate student.
“This semester is for our five seniors,” junior Xin Tong Wang said. “So, we want to have a really good semester to finish their college (career).”
“It’s invaluable,” Eddins added about the experience this year’s team has. “I think as you get match-to-match and year-to-year, you’re gaining a lot of experience through different situations you’re in. Having five seniors who can be leaders through those experiences will be really beneficial for our program.”
In September, WSU welcomed Eddins as the new Shocker head women’s tennis coach. Eddins took over for Colin Foster, who coached from 2009-25, and helped build a foundation of success.
Eddins said his time taking in the culture of the program has “been great” so far.
“The girls have been really receptive. We’re trying to work extremely hard to achieve some of our goals that we set forth early in the year,” he said. “It’s been fun, been rewarding to see the girls have some success in the fall. We hope we can continue to build on that this spring season.”
“I really like him,” Roselli said. “Me and Xin Tong spent a lot of time with him during the fall. That really helped us. He’s pretty direct on the court, and that’s really good. He tells us what to do.”
Wang echoed Roselli’s sentiment.
“I think he is a really nice (person), even when we are not on the tennis court,” she said. “I think that he helped us a lot during the fall. So, when the season starts, I think he will help everyone to get better.”
During the fall, Wang and Roselli competed in and won the American Conference Doubles Championship, defeating Charlotte in two 6-4 decisions. Roselli also placed as the runner-up in the singles championship.
“I told Xin Tong before I was really nervous. I couldn’t sleep the night before,” Roselli said. “We played that same team in practice, and we lost against Charlotte. Everything that happened in practice actually made us want it more. And after we did it, I couldn’t believe it at first. I was like, ‘Wait what? We really did it, like we won the conference?’ We were just so excited to have another chance to play together.”
For Eddins, it was a fast start to his tenure.
“It was a lot of fun, especially being my first semester here as a new head coach,” Eddins said about Wang and Roselli’s doubles win. “Just to be part of that with the girls, a lot of credit to them. They did an unbelievable job throughout the fall, and it was just a lot of fun to be part of.”
The Shockers began the spring by playing two teams ranked in the top 10 of the preseason ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. The Shockers played No. 6 Oklahoma in their second match this spring and No. 10 Oklahoma State shortly after. They fell to both the Sooners and Cowgirls.
But Roselli and Wong both agreed that playing top-ranked competition to start the slate is beneficial for the team.
“I think it’s important to get some of those really tough matches in early,” Eddins said. “It just shows us where we’re at, and that’s the level that we want to compete at.”
In total, Wichita State has six conference matches ahead of it this season. The Shockers will play Tulane, South Florida and Tulsa at home. They’ll travel to play UTSA, Rice and North Texas.
Roselli is confident about this season’s talent.
“We have the best players in our conference,” Roselli said. “Our team is really good when we play all together and, in every position, we can really do a great job.”
The Shockers still have plenty of work before then, but their eyes are set on what’s ahead.
“Going into conference play, I think we want to be in a position to win all of those matches,” Eddins said. “Especially down the stretch into the tournament, we want to be in a position to win the conference tournament … (and) bring the trophy back to Wichita State.”
