Wayne State University Athletics

Emma Purdy - Hillsdale College

Malak Arafat won the "B" draw in singles action at the Hillsdale College Summer Invitational.

Women's Tennis 9/10/2023 4:25:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Tennis Wraps Up Play at Hillsdale College Summer Invitational

Six Warriors saw action across the two-day event on Friday and Saturday.

HILLSDALE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's tennis team opened the 2023-24 campaign and its fall tournament schedule with strong play at the Hillsdale College Summer Invitational over the past two days.

The tournament was held on Friday, September 8, and Saturday, September 9, and featured the Warriors, the Findlay Oilers, the Walsh Cavaliers, and the host Chargers. Play was scheduled for and started outdoors at the Mary Jane Delp Tennis Courts, but weather forced action indoors to the Margot V. Biermann Center.

DOUBLES
Doubles play saw 32 players (16 pairings) split evenly into two draws -- eight in the "A" draw and eight in the "B" draw.

"A" Draw
In the "A" draw, both Green and Gold pairings saw success against their opponents. Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) and Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland), the No. 6-ranked doubles duo from the end of last season by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), defeated Hillsdale's Melanie Zampardo and Megan Hackman by an 8-1 score in the first round quarterfinals. In the second round semifinals, the pairing topped Carla Padberg and Yasmina Mayer of Walsh by the same 8-1 tally.

The other "A" draw team for WSU were Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) and Dea Gorgidze (Tbilisi, Georgia). The two sophomores also won both their matches, first notching an 8-3 victory over Walsh's Isabella Sanchez and Shantala Uzcategui, then handling HC's Libby McGivern and Ane Dannhauser 8-6 in the second round semifinals.

The finals match between the two WSU teams went unplayed.

"B" Draw
The lone Wayne State team in the "B" draw were Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) and newcomer Justine Beaulieu (Montreal, Que.) in her collegiate debut. Szpakowska and Beaulieu fell in a tight 9-8 (7-1) battle to the Findlay team of Ivanova Lucero and Maria Valentina Salek Rivero. That put the Green and Gold duo in the consolation bracket, where the two garnered an 8-3 triumph over the Cavaliers' Aleksandra Chmir and Olesya Ivashchuk.

SINGLES
The 32 student-athletes were organized into four draws of eight. WSU had strong performances across all four brackets, with several hard fought efforts.

"A" Draw
Ruyssen and Komar were the Wayne State representatives in the "A" draw. Ruyssen, the No. 33-ranked singles player at the end of last season, notched a first round quarterfinals victory vs. Yasmina Mayer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. The redshirt junior's second match against Ane Dannhauser saw the Hillsdale freshman earn a 6-1 win in the opening set of the semifinals, before Ruyssen tied the match with a 6-2 second set victory. In the race-to-ten third set, Ruyssen registered a 10-5 triumph to nab the match.

Komar faced Uzcategui in her opening singles match and won a three-set decision 4-6, 6-3, 10-4. The redshirt junior then battled UF's Anamarija Kovacevic and posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory in straight sets.

The "A" finals between the two members of the Green and Gold went unplayed.

"B" Draw
Arafat was victorious in the "B" draw as she defeated a Charger and two Oilers to emerge with the group win. The sophomore opened her fall season with triumphs over Hackman (6-1, 7-5), Emily Hadler (6-1, 6-1), and Lucero (6-2, 6-2).

"C" Draw
Two more Warriors competed in the "C" draw -- Gorgidze and Szpakowska. Both won two matches in the bracket, with Gorgidze winning over the Oilers' Zuzanna Krygier (6-1, 6-2) and the Cavaliers' Sanchez (6-3, 7-5). Szpakowska, the sophomore, notched victories over the Chargers' Courtney Rittel (6-2, 6-0), while handling UF's Salek Rivero by a 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 mark.

"D" Draw
Beaulieu made the most of her first weekend as a Warrior, not only having success in her doubles matches, but also coming out on top in the "D" draw of singles competition. The freshman began with a round one quarterfinals decision of 6-0, 6-2 vs. Julia Wagner (Hillsdale), then a 7-5, 6-2 final score in the round two match with Lidia Laskova (Findlay). Beaulieu concluded her singles run with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Walsh's Wolff.

FROM THE TEAM
"The past two days were great for us to get acclimated to match play. Everyone showed a great effort and kept their focus despite the interruptions from the rain," said assistant coach Yahsha Moore.

"We had a great start to the semester with these two days of the tournament. We competed hard and we are really proud of the overall effort on and off the court from the team. We believe that this start is promising and that we have big things ahead of us to come. The team will now focus on the next tournament which is next weekend at the ITA Midwest Regionals," said redshirt juniors Anais Ruyssen and Marta Komar.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will not have much time off before its next event at the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament, hosted by the University of Indianapolis next weekend. The three-day event is slated for Saturday, September 16, through Monday, September 18.

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Players Mentioned

Malak Arafat: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Justine Beaulieu: 5' 4"; Freshman

Dea Gorgidze: 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore

Marta Komar: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Anais Ruyssen: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Martyna Szpakowska: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Malak Arafat
: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Justine Beaulieu
: 5' 4"; Freshman

Dea Gorgidze
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore

Marta Komar
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Anais Ruyssen
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Martyna Szpakowska
: 5' 8"; Sophomore