Since its inception 24 years ago, Wichita State's women's tennis program has emerged as one of the most prolific in the Missouri Valley Conference. Over the past 17 years, the Shockers have captured eight Gateway Conference/Valley crowns, the most in conference history.



Under the guidance of six different coaches, WSU has compiled a 334-245 record, good for a 57.7 percent winning percentage. In 1981 and 1982, head coach Jay Louderback led the Shockers to back-to-back 21-win seasons, which mark the highest-winning seasons in WSU history.



On the courts, WSU has produced 22 conference individual champions and nine doubles champions, including Sandy Sadler, who won four-consecutive No. 1 Singles and Doubles titles (1981-85), and Annette Hartman, who won back-to-back No. 2 Singles titles from 1996-98; four Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) All-Region VI honorees; and four NCAA Tournament individual qualifiers.



Despite WSU's success during the 1980s,  head coach Les Stafford escalated the Shockers to a new level. After taking over for Steve Dekker midway through the 1990 season, Stafford inherited a 2-10 team and guided it to 6-5 over its last 11 matches, which instilled the toughness that was characteristic of Stafford’s future teams.



During his nine full seasons, Stafford, WSU's all-time winning coach (138-68, .670), has guided the Shockers to a first or second-place finish on eight ocassions. During his tenure, his WSU teams have captured four conference crowns and recorded four second-place finishes. For his efforts, Stafford has been a four-time Gateway and Valley Coach-of-the-Year recipient.



Perhaps the most renown player in Shocker history is Sadler, whose 129 singles and 131 doubles victories are first all time in the WSU career record book. A four-time Gateway/Valley winner at No. 1 Singles and Doubles, Sadler was the first player at WSU to ever win an NCAA/ITCA event when she captured the 1983 Central Regional Indoor Singles title.