Men’s tennis
Wichita State split its games against American Athletic Conference foes over the weekend, and are now 6-8 on the season.
On Friday, at the Genesis Health Complex on Rock Road, WSU took a decisive 4-1 loss to University of Memphis concurrently with the men’s basketball loss at the AAC Championship, also happening that day.
Junior Alejandro Jacome and sophomore Arenui Luethi were the first to fall in doubles with a 6-2 loss. Junior Kristof Minarik and freshman Ilias Worthington responded with a 6-4 victory on their court, leaving the decider to junior Luke Bracks and sophomore Vanja Hodzic.
The match went the distance but Bracks and Hodzic ended up losing, 7-5, as they gave up the doubles point to Memphis.
Hodzic was the only WSU player to win a singles match, finishing first in two sets, 6-4 and 6-1. Memphis then won three straight courts to win the game, leaving two matches unfinished.
On Sunday, the Shockers were finally able to take advantage of the nice weather and played their first game at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex this season. They took a 5-2 win over the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to end a three-game losing streak.
Bracks and Hodzic avenged their Friday loss by finishing first in doubles, 6-2. Minarik and Worthington were unable to replicate a doubles victory, losing 6-3. Jacome and Luethi finished another close decider with a loss, 7(7)-6(5), giving up the doubles point.
WSU made a gentleman’s sweep on the singles bracket, taking five of the six courts.
Men’s tennis will start a three-game road trip, traveling to play the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Tuesday, March 18. The first serve is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Women’s tennis
WSU burned down the bayou with three wins in Louisiana. The Shockers, now 9-6 this season, are ranked No. 67 in the nation.
Wichita State played the first game on Thursday against Louisiana Tech University. At the City Park Tennis Center in New Orleans, the Shockers took victories against Princeton University and Tulane University on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Against Louisiana Tech, the Shockers won in a gentlelady’s sweep, 4-1. Sophomores duo Xin Tong Wang and Giorgia Roselli took their court 6-4 while juniors Theodora Chantava and Kristina Kudryavtseva took their court 6-3 in the decider to take the doubles point.
The Shockers began their speedrun with a little to improve, losing one match in the singles bracket but otherwise making a dominant showing as no game went to three sets.
Against Princeton, the Shockers once again won in a gentlelady’s sweep, 4-1. Yet again, the doubles point went to a decider, where Chantava and Kudryavtseva won, 6-3.
The Shockers then won three of four of the finished games on the singles courts, including a 6-0 set by Wang.
Against Tulane, the Shockers took the doubles courts with two straight victories.
In a domination across the field against Tulane, Wichita State took three straight courts to sweep the game, 4-0. Chantava was the only player to finish a three-set match in the speedrun, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Wichita State will continue its trek down south against the University of South Florida on Wednesday, March 19. The first serve is scheduled for 9 a.m.
Women’s bowling
In its last tournament of the regular season, women’s bowling placed seventh at the Music City Classic hosted by Vanderbilt University with a total pinfall of 12,520.
Sophomore Ashtyn Woods was the only player to place top-ten in pinfall, knocking down 1,268 pins in six games for an average of 211.
In the championship round, the Shockers played for the 5th-8th place bracket, losing via a sweep to Sam Houston State University, then sweeping Arkansas State University to take the seventh place spot.
The Shockers went 9-4 over the course of the tournament, improving to 77-35 on the season. Woods was named to the all-tournament team, winning a banjo in the Music City.
In a trend among the other Wichita State teams, the women’s bowling team will roll along across the South to play in the Conference USA tournament at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, Louisiana, from Wednesday, March 19 to Sunday, March 23. The first roll is scheduled for 11 a.m. and can be watched on ESPN+.
Women’s golf
In a tournament shortened by snow, Wichita State placed 13th in the Red Rocks Invitational hosted in Oak Creek, Arizona, from Friday to Sunday. The team shot for 302, 14 strokes over par, in the single-round tournament.
Junior Kate Tilma placed sixth individually, finishing one under par. Tilma hit two birdies on the back nine of the course after hitting one bogey on the front nine to bring her total to 71 strokes.
Women’s golf is set to tee off at the “Mo” Morial Invitational hosted by Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas from Monday, April 7 to Tuesday, April 8.
