2021-22 Shocker Women's Tennis

[1972Shocker]

Lady Shockers Out to 2-0 Start

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/1/22/womens-tennis-shockers-out-to-2-0-start.aspx

The Wichita State women's tennis team opened its spring season with wins over Saint Louis and Newman on Saturday on the Wichita Country Club indoor courts.

The Shockers (2-0) took care of SLU in the opener, 5-2, winning the doubles point and four of their six singles matches. They swept Newman, 7-0, in the nightcap.

[Kung Wu]

It's interesting how many asian girls there are on the team. Did Coach Foster find a unique recruiting angle or is it just randomness?

[SubGod22]

Four of the seven are from overseas. None from the same country. Two locals. Definitely an interesting makeup. I know nothing about any of this in regards to recruiting and how it's done. I do know that we generally have a stronger European influence, or at least we did when I was at WSU.

[1972Shocker]

NCAA D-1 tennis has been dominated by international players for some time now. Actually have 3 midwest players, including 2 local players (one a transfer after 5 years at the University of Pacific).

It's early but it looks to me like this will be somewhat of a down season for the Lady Shockers.

[1972Shocker]

In what was already a down year for the Shocker women's tennis the Lady Shocks have been at a big disadvantage in their last 4 dual matches as they have only been able to field 5 players. I don't know if this is due to injury or other roster issues. They only had 7 players on the roster to begin the year.

As a result the Shocks have to default the #3 doubles match and the #6 singles match before play even begins. After losing to Houston 5-2 on Friday the Shockers have now lost 8 consecutive matches.

The Shocks have cancelled their match against SMU scheduled for Sunday in Wichita. I'm sure Coach Foster will be happy to put this season in the rear view mirror but it kind of goes along with the current state of athletics at Wichita State.

[1972Shocker]

The Shockers closed out the season with wins over Emporia State and Kansas City despite continuing to play with only 5 players due to injuries which forces them to default at the #3 doubles and the #6 singles. Even before they were down to 5 players I would rate this as a down year for Shocker's women tennis.

The Shock head to Tulsa to open play in the AAC Women's Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The Shocks are 0-5 against AAC opponents this season and had 2 other AAC matches cancelled. 3 of the 5 losses were since they have been playing with only 5 players.

4 of the eleven AAC schools are ranked in the Top 75. #18 UCF, #43 SMU, #48 Tulsa and #56 Memphis.

The AAC Tournament is a single elimination Tournament. The 6th through 11th seeded teams play on Wednesday, with the 3 winners joining the top 5 seeds in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Shocks, USF and ECU appear to be the weak sisters in the AAC this year. But no reason to expect the Shocks to be around long.

[1972Shocker]

Looks like the Lady Shocks are the 10th seed and will face 7 seed Cincinnati at 9:00 am Wednesday. The Shocks lost to Cincy 3-4 in Wichita about a month ago. That was the first match that the Shocks were only able to field 5 players. Cincy won the doubles point in that match by winning the #2 doubles and getting a default win in the #3 doubles. Cincy then only need to win 2 of the 5 singles matches to win along with their win by default at #6 singles and that is what they did.

[1972Shocker]

The Lady Shocks, still playing short-handed fell to Cincinnati 5-1 and, as pretty much expected, there season is done. The only point the Shocker won was the doubles point despite forfeiting at the #3 doubles. Fortunately, the Tournament is at Tulsa this year so a quick trip down and back.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Women's Tennis Honored for Community Service Efforts

The annual honor recognizes teams that gives back to their campus and their community through tennis and non-tennis pathways. One winner is selected from each region.

The Shockers completed 110 volunteer hours during the 2021-22 school year. Members of the squad held bi-weekly mentoring sessions with students at Cloud Elementary School, cooked meals for families at the Ronald McDonald House, took part in setup for Illuminations at Botanica and participated in Wu's Big Event.

This is the third time that the Shockers have received the award under head coach Colin Foster (2017 & 2019).

[WuDrWu]

Colin is a great person. This comes as no surprise to me.

[1972Shocker]

Colin is a great person. This comes as no surprise to me.

There is no doubt that Coach Foster and his wife, Kewa, are a class act. However, after great success in the Valley going 156-62 (.716) the going has been much tougher in the AAC. The AAC is a much, much better tennis conference than was the Valley (who no longer sponsors men's tennis and only has 6 women's programs left plus Stony Brook). The Covid pandemic sure didn't help, and my guess is it hurt sports like tennis, where majority of players are sourced internationally, more than most. Maybe a lot more. To top it off the Shockers finished off this past season with only 5 healthy players and were unable to even field a full squad for dual meets having to forfeit the #3 doubles and the #6 singles in their final 8 matches.

In our first year in the AAC the Shocks were 18-9 although only playing 3 regular season matches against AAC teams as the AAC does not a regular season slate of matches. The Shocks went 1-1 in he AAC Championship that year and went 1-1 in the NCAA Tournament. However, the last 4 years have been on the decline as the Shockers have gone 14-10, 7-10 (Covid Shortened Year), 10-16, 8-13.

I guess 1st things 1st. We need to be able to at least field a full squad next year and we need to upgrade the talent on the roster. Fielding a full squad should be easy enough. Not so sure about being able to upgrade the talent. It seems like the recruiting dynamics may have changed but that's just a guess.

Probably won't know what the roster will look like until the fall semester starts and even then not unusual for international players to be added in the spring semester.

Coach Foster appears to have a challenge on his hands. I am not even sure what a reasonable expectation should be for Shocker women's tennis in the AAC. I think the best way to measure that would be based on the seeding for the AAC Tournament since those a based on the ITA rankings at the end of the regular season. All 11 AAC teams currently field teams. I'm thinking a reasonable expectation and goal for the Shocks would be to a top 5 seed in the AAC Tournament.

Since joining the AAC the Shockers have been seeded in the AAC Tournament as follows:

#3 in 2017-18, #5 in 2018-19, tournament cancelled in 2019-20 due to Covid, #7 in 2020-21 and #10 in 2021-22. Definitely not trending in the right direction. Hopefully, we are bottoming out. Trips to the NCAA Tournament for the team will probably be somewhat rare.

I think we'll just have to be satisfied with first class coaches and student-athletes doing their best on the court and in the classroom and representing WSU so well in the community. I think I can feel good about that with this particular program although I would love to see a little more success on the courts.

[SubGod22]

I'm not sure the new AD will feel good about that long term. He wants winners and even if Coach Foster is a great guy and the team represents off the court well, I don't think Saal will sit back and just allow it. I do think it may get Foster a little bit of a grace period as they figure out what needs to change in order to improve on the field of play.

15:1

[1972Shocker]

He has a lot of meat on his plate to deal with before getting to the side dishes and I think women's tennis definitely qualifies as a side dish but it will probably get some attention. Irrespective of whatever is done or how successful women's tennis is probably won't change the revenue profile very much. But at least it won't be totally ignored.

He did seem to like this community service award and that's part of the puzzle:

[1972Shocker]

Tennis Teams Load Up on ITA Academic Honors

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/7/11/womens-tennis-tennis-teams-load-up-on-ita-academic-honors.aspx

The Wichita State men's and women's tennis programs both earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team status Monday and combined to place 10 players on the ITA Scholar-Athlete list.

In order to be recognized, teams must have posted a 3.20+ grade point average during the 2021-22 school year, and individuals must perform at 3.50-or-better.

The women's tennis team posted a 3.66 GPA to qualify for All-Academic Team status for a ninth-consecutive year. Four players made the Scholar-Athlete team: Natsumi Kurahashi, Harriet Hamilton, LingWei Kong and Clara Whitaker.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Kissell Joins Women's Tennis Staff

Wichita State head women's tennis coach Colin Foster has hired Joelle Kissell as his new assistant coach.

The former NC State standout brings five years of collegiate coaching experience, most recently at West Virginia where she spent the 2021-22 season as the Mountaineers' volunteer assistant.

"We are excited to welcome Joelle to our program," Foster said. "It was clear during the search process that her and my values align. Joelle is passionate about developing leaders and champions – on an off the court -- and preparing student-athletes for life after graduation. She was a very accomplished collegiate and professional athlete and will be able to share those experiences with our players. She has also coached at several different levels in and out of college tennis and made a positive impact at each stop."

Before arriving at West Virginia, Kissell worked three seasons (2018-21) as the assistant coach at Seton Hill University, an NCAA Division II school in Greensburg, Pa., and another as volunteer assistant at Western Carolina (2014-15).