Wichita State women’s tennis sees record-breaking season end with NCAA loss
The doubles point had been a safety net for the Wichita State women’s tennis team all season.
On Saturday afternoon, it became the first crack.
The No. 34-ranked Shockers saw their memorable season come to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, as No. 26 SMU won the decisive doubles point, then carried that early momentum into singles for a 4-1 victory in the Norman Regional hosted by Oklahoma.
It was a disappointing end, but didn’t diminish one of the best seasons in program history under first-year head coach Jacob Eddins. The Shockers (21-5) returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, earning just the second at-large bid in program history. They also got to as high as No. 24 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings and won a school-record 19 matches in a row.
But against SMU, the margin was thin from the start.
WSU had won the doubles point in 21 of its 25 matches entering the NCAA Tournament and had turned that early advantage into 19 victories. The Shockers were used to playing from ahead. This time, they were forced to chase.
SMU grabbed control at No. 1 doubles, where Wichita State’s Giorgia Roselli and Xin Tong Wang dropped a 6-3 decision. The Shockers answered at No. 3 doubles, as Anne Knuettel and Palmy Vimuktananda won 6-3 to keep the point alive.
That left the match hanging on Court 2.
Theodora Chantava and Kristina Kudryavtseva had WSU in position with a 5-4 lead, but SMU won the final three games to take the match, 7-5, and claim the doubles point.
It was just the fifth time all season WSU had failed to win doubles, and it changed the math immediately: The Shockers now needed four singles wins against a SMU team that had become much more dangerous than the one Wichita State beat in January.
WSU defeated SMU, 4-2, on Jan. 19, but the Mustangs had since added Amelie Van Impe, the nation’s No. 25-ranked singles player, to the top of their lineup. That gave SMU a different look in the rematch and, on Saturday, a clear advantage at the top.
Wichita State’s lone point came from Vimuktananda at No. 4 singles, where she gave the Shockers a clean 6-4, 6-0 victory over Addison Comiskey. For a moment, WSU had steadied itself.
SMU answered everywhere else it needed.
Chantava gave WSU early hope at No. 2 singles by taking the first set, but SMU’s Caroline McGinley flipped the match and pulled away for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 win. At No. 5 singles, Ellie Mireles added another point for the Mustangs with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kudryavtseva.
Then Van Impe closed the door at No. 1 singles, defeating Wang 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the match and end WSU’s season.
The loss does not erase what the Shockers built in Eddins’ first year.
WSU reached the American Conference tournament championship match for the first time in program history, even though its record winning streak ended there. Wang was named the Player of the Year in the American, giving the Shockers a steady force at the top of their singles and doubles lineup.
Saturday marked the program’s 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament with the lone wins by WSU coming in 2007 and 2018. WSU couldn’t claim its third NCAA victory on Saturday, but this season reestablished WSU nationally.
After relying on the doubles point all season, WSU couldn’t quite recover when it couldn’t secure the first point on Saturday.
Now comes the harder part for Eddins: proving the breakthrough can last beyond one special lineup.
WSU is set to graduate the bulk of its rotation with Chantava, Knuettel, Kudryavtseva, Tatyana Nikolenko and Vimuktananda all out of eligibility after helping carry the Shockers back to the NCAA Tournament. The foundation does not completely disappear, however, as Roselli and Wang are juniors who can return for one more season. That gives WSU two proven anchors to build around, but the offseason will be a test of how quickly Eddins can restock the lineup and turn this season from a one-year surge into the start of a sustained climb.
This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 2:21 PM.
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