Stephen F. Austin
Wichita State University
Ladyjacks Take on Wichita State in Dallas to Begin Spring 2018 Season
1/18/2018 3:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis
SFA and Wichita State meet for second time ever
Match One
Stephen F. Austin (0-0) vs. Wichita State (0-0)
Friday, Jan. 19 | 9:00 a.m. | SMU Tennis Complex | Dallas, Texas | Head Coach Jon McLaughlin Press Conference
THE FIRST SERVE
• Friday morning at the SMU Tennis Complex in Dallas, Texas, the Stephen F. Austin women's tennis team begins its 2018 spring campaign by taking on Wichita State at 9:00 a.m.
• SFA is under the direction of third-year head coach Jon McLaughlin who has gone 1-1 in season openers during his tenure as the Ladyjacks' bench boss.
• The Ladyjacks are coming off of a 2017 season in which they went 8-14 and 4-7 in Southland Conference play. SFA advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Southland Conference Tournament, too, which marked the 10th-straight season in which SFA qualified for the league's postseason tournament.
• Of the eight players that comprise the Ladyjacks' 2018 roster, four of them are returning letterwinners. Leading that group is junior Kaja Ljubic, the reigning Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year.
• During her first season in SFA colors, Ljubic posted a 10-7 record in singles play and was arguably the team's best doubles performer as well. The Ljubljana, Slovenia, product accounted for 11 of the Ladyjacks' 24 doubles wins in dual matches with all but one of those triumphs coming in the third doubles flight.
• Another of those returners is Gabi Guilarte who posted an 8-11 record in singles action last season. Much of her success came in the fourth singles flight where she picked up five triumphs and in double play Guilarte compiled a 7-9 record.
• Other returning letterwinners for the Ladyjacks include sophomores Darinka Tiboldi and Siân Payne.
• One of four newcomers among SFA's ranks, Nida Kamal comes to SFA after spending her freshman season at Big South institution Winthrop. While there, Kamal took part in five doubles matches for the Eagles and helped the team claim the 2017 Big South regular season and tournament titles.
• Vera Carvalho, Armelle Cerdan and Kyndall Misak are the other three newcomers for SFA in 2018.
THE SERIES
• Wichita State leads 1-0
• Last Match | Wichita State 4, SFA 2 (Jan. 27, 2013 | Austin, Texas)
SCOUTING WICHITA STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2017 STATISTICS
• Led by reigning Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Player of the Year in senior Giulia Guidetti, the Shockers are hoping their dominance in the MVC translates well to the American Athletic Conference in their inaugural season in the league. Before switching conferences in the summer of 2017, the Shockers had captured nine MVC regular season titles.
• During their final season in the MVC, the Shockers went 18-9 and compiled a perfect 7-0 record in league play and won all of but one of their seven league matches by scores of 7-0. In the MVC Tournament, the Shockers rolled past Stony Brook (quarterfinals), Evansville (semifinals) and Southern Illinois (championship) by identical 4-0 scores to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
• In their first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament, the Shockers fell to No. 19-ranked Arkansas 4-2 in a loss which ended their season.
• Playing exclusively in the number-one singles slot a season ago, Guidetti posted a 13-7 record and ended her junior year on a four-match winning streak. In doubles play, Guidetti was paired with three different teammates throughout the season and went 7-8 in dual matches.
• No Wichita State player recorded more singles victories in 2017 than Fatima Bizhukova. Through the course of her freshman season, Bizhukova played in flights two, three, four and five and finished with an impressive 22-4 mark. Paired with Gabriela Porubin, who enters her senior year in 2018, Bizhukova was a force to be reckoned with in doubles action. That tandem constructed a 20-6 mark in dual matches during the 2017 season and went 7-0 against MVC foes.
• In singles play, Porubin went 17-7 while competing across the first, second, third and fourth flights. By the time 2017 was in the books, she had climbed as high as No. 74 in the ITA rankings.
COMING UP NEXT
• Following their season-opening battle with the Shockers, the Ladyjacks will get an eight-day break before making their first home appearances of the 2018 campaign. Saturday, Jan. 27, SFA hosts Tyler Junior College in an exhibition matchup and will also take on UTSA at the Schlief Tennis Complex. The doubleheader is expected to begin at noon.
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
