AAC Opener Awaits UC Tennis Thursday at Home

// FIRST SERVE
The University of Cincinnati opens conference action this week as the Bearcats are set to play host to Wichita State Thursday at 1 p.m. on the indoor courts of Western Tennis & Fitness Club in Cincinnati. The Bearcats (7-5), coming off a 7-0 sweep of visiting Wright State last week, will look to make it two in a row against WSUs as the Shockers (4-10, 1-1 AAC) complete their tour of the Queen City after playing at Xavier Wednesday.

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// QUICK SERVES
• Cincinnati enters the match 7-5 and will be playing an AAC foe for the first time in 2020
• The Bearcats recently defeated Wright State, 7-0, to snap a three-dual skid
• Cincinnati is six wins away from its 500th all-time dual victory 
• Head Coach Eric Toth is one win shy of tying Angela Wilson (2009-14) for the third-most coaching wins in program history as he enters the dual with 68 wins at UC (2015-present)
• Caroline Morton won her singles match against the Raiders, giving he 70 for her career and making her just the sixth UC woman to win 70+
• Morton and fellow senior Anna Philip have helped the Bearcats to 47 dual wins in their time at UC, which is currently tied for the 10th-most among senior classes

// FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats will be available for the match at Cincinnati.StatBroadcast.com (p: uc10is).

// SCOUTING: WICHITA STATE
The Shockers head to the Queen City with a 4-10 overall record and stand 1-1 in the American. WSU has played a trio of nationally ranked teams this year, including at #11 Oklahoma State (L, 6-1), at #18 Arizona State (L, 5-2), and at #19 Kansas (L, 6-1). In league play, the Shockers played both opponents at home, winning, 4-1, over Tulane and falling, 4-0, to SMU. Last week, WSU defeated UM-Kansas City, 4-0, at home before falling at Nebraska, 6-1.

// SERIES HISTORY: BEARCATS vs. SHOCKERS
Cincinnati and Wichita State have met just once before, a 4-2 win for the Shockers last year in Wichita, Kan. Thursday's dual will be the first between the two sides in Cincinnati.

// CINCINNATI 500?
Cincinnati is 7-5 on the year entering the weekend. With those wins, the Bearcats now have 494 all-time victories in program history, needing just six more to reach 500. UC has nine more duals scheduled for the 2020 regular season as well as at least one dual in the 2020 American Athletic Conference Championship Tournament later in April.

// COACHING WINS
A win Thursday would not only start the Bearcats off to a 1-0 record in the American, it would give Head Coach Eric Toth his 68th coaching victory at Cincinnati, tying him with Angela Wilson (2009-14) for third on the all-time coaching wins list. Carol Tanner (1992-03) leads the way with 132 and Marty Wolf (1982-87) is second with 79.

// CLIMBING HIGHER
Speaking of wins, seniors Caroline Morton and Anna Philp have helped the Bearcats to 47 dual wins in their time at Cincinnati, which ties for the 10th-most wins for a senior class. The Class of 2020 started off with 17 wins as freshmen in 2017 before winning 11 and 12 over the past two years. With three more wins this year, they would become only the ninth senior class to record 50+ dual wins in a career at Cincinnati.

// MORTON MOVING UP
Morton also is moving higher on the wins lists for individuals as she recently won her #2 singles match against Wright State to record her 70th career singles victory. That total ties he fourth all-time and leaves her one win shy of tying for the #2 position with both Jen Capuzzi (1999-03) and Marjie Spray (1996-99) with 71 wins. Kara Molony (1997-01) leads the way with 106 wins in her career with the Bearcats.

// IT'S ACADEMIC
The UC Athletics Department has continued to shine academically with the tennis team being toward the top of the list annually. During the 2018-19 academic year, the team amassed a cumulative GPA of 3.727 as nine players earned recognition from the league as AAC All-Academic. The team also was honored with the AAC Team Academic Excellence Award which is given annually to the team with the highest GPA in the league in each sport. The tennis program was one of five UC programs to have the highest GPA in their respective sport for the 2018-19 academic year. Earlier this month, the grades were released for the Fall 2019 semester with tennis once again leading the charge at UC with its 3.796 GPA the best among all women's teams and second overall behind only men's cross country and their 3.829.

// NEXT TIME OUT
The Bearcats will get a small break for action as they will not return to the courts until March 17 when they venture to Florida for a pair of conference duals. First, the Bearcats will meet UCF in Orlando on March 17 before traveling to Tampa on March 18 to play USF.