Wayne State University Athletics

Women's Tennis 4/20/2023 10:00:00 AM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Tennis Holds Strong in ITA National and NCAA Regional Rankings

The Warriors held serve at eighth (ITA) and third (NCAA) for a second consecutive week.

DETROIT -- For a second consecutive week, the Wayne State University women's tennis team was ranked eighth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) national rankings and third in the NCAA Midwest Region rankings.

ITA
Wayne State held steady as the eighth-ranked team in the nation, according to the ITA's computerized rankings system. Last weekend, the Warriors handled business at home with wins over Davenport and Purdue Northwest to finish with a 6-1 conference ledger and a second-place regular season finish. That earned the team a first-round bye in the GLIAC Tournament this weekend (will not play on Friday).

The program posted back-to-back 7-0 shutout wins over the Panthers and Pride, making it four straight matches in which the team did not allowed a single point to any opponent.

Individually, Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) jumped six positions from 34th to 28th in the ITA Top 75 Singles Rankings following her pair of triumphs over the weekend. The junior defeated Davenport's Amy Bloch 6-1, 6-1 on Friday, before handling Sienna Lopez of Purdue Northwest by scores of 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday. She finished the regular season with an 18-4 dual match record, all from the top flight for the Green and Gold.

Ruyssen and partner Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland) improved an impressive 15 spots to become the 20th-ranked duo in the ITA Top 50 Doubles Rankings this week. The big jump, in large part, came due to the pair defeating then No. 16-ranked Bloch and Willemien Coetzee from DU by a 6-4 score. The victory marked the third time this spring that the two juniors won over another ranked doubles team.

NCAA
The Warriors did not move from third-ranked in the NCAA Midwest Region rankings, which included all games played through April 18.

WSU remained behind Indianapolis (Great Lakes Valley Conference, GLVC) and Grand Valley State (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, GLIAC), who are first and second, respectively. The Greyhounds were the ninth-ranked team according to the ITA, while the Lakers were the No. 17-ranked program.

In fact, the entire top nine were in the same order this week as last with Tiffin (Great Midwest Athletic Conference, GMAC), Findlay (GMAC), Michigan Tech (GLIAC), Drury (GLVC), Southwest Baptist (GLVC), and Lewis (GLVC) rounding out fourth through ninth behind the Green and Gold.

With their two conference victories over Davenport and Purdue Northwest last weekend, Wayne State holds a 12-1 record in the region, with five of those victories over Tiffin, Findlay, Michigan Tech, Drury, and Southwest Baptist -- all of whom were alongside the Warriors in the Midwest rankings.

Positioning in the NCAA Regional rankings will be critical as postseason play begins. WSU will begin its quest for a 12th GLIAC Tournament championship on Saturday. The program won last year's tournament, as well as back-to-back titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

After the weekend action wraps up, the NCAA Selection Show is slated for Monday, April 24 on NCAA.com. The women's show is at 8:30 p.m., while the men's show is at 8 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Marta Komar: 5' 7"; Junior

Anais Ruyssen: 5' 7"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Marta Komar
: 5' 7"; Junior

Anais Ruyssen
: 5' 7"; Junior