The road to victory was paved in a convincing fashion. Despite the relocation of their Friday match due to weather, the Shockers began the tournament weekend off with success.

The way WSU won its first match against Bradley might be as close as it gets to a bye week.

Wichita State took the doubles point quickly with a win by Satjaporn Mahajaroenkul and Montse Blasco Fernandez, 8-0. Lucia Kovalova and Julia Schiller won 8-1.

In singles, WSU showed its superiority when MVC Freshman of the Year Rebecca Pedrazzi won easily 6-0, 6-3. It was the third year in a row WSU has had a freshman take this honor home.

MVC All-Conference Team players Schiller and Kovalova sealed victory on Friday, winning 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-2 respectively.

The next conference opponent to stand in WSU’s way was Southern Illinois. They ended by not fairing much better than Bradley, and still got blanked when WSU won 4-0.

WSU took the doubles point again, but it took a bit longer. Pedrazzi and teammate, Carla Venticinque, won 8-3 for their seventh straight victory. Kovalova teamed up with Veronika Blaskova to win 8-4.

Once again, Schiller and Kovalova won quickly and methodically in singles 6-3, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-0 respectively. The fourth and final point on Saturday was captured by Mahajaroenkul, who won 6-0, 6-0. The Shockers would face the No. 2 seed Southern Illinois on Sunday, who they defeated 7-0 in the regular season.

Sunday’s championship match was lead by Blasco Fernandez and Mahajaroenkul. They were the first doubles team to win at 8-2. Venticinque and Pedrazzi also won their match 8-6 to give the lead to the Shockers.

Blasco Fernandez and Mahajaroenkul won their singles matches convincingly, with both scoring 6-1, 6-0. Between the two of them, they scored three points for the Shockers, leaving only one for the rest of the team.

All the players won their first sets, and were playing up to the high expectations they set for themselves. Schiller faltered a bit when she had her opponent on the ropes. Schiller put herself in position for the triple match point, but dropped the game and won in a tie break. She would come through to win 6-3, 7-6, and gave WSU their fifth straight MVC championship.

“Julia, being a freshman, showed nerves,” coach Colin Foster said. “She held herself together beautifully, and she’s had a great year.”

The Shockers earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which is held in two weeks. The opponent and location will be announced later this week.