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Wayne State University Athletics

0
Wayne State WSUW (2-3)
4
Winner Nova Southeastern NSU-W (4-1)
Wayne State WSUW
(2-3)
0
Final
4
Nova Southeastern NSU-W
(4-1)
Winner
Malak Arafat vs. Nova Southeastern at ITA National Indoor Championship (02/23/2024)
Intercollegiate Tennis Association
Malak Arafat was one of two Warriors (Marta Komar) to win a set on Friday vs. NSU.

Match Recap: Women's Tennis | | Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Tennis Falls to #2-Nova Southeastern in Opening Match of ITA National Indoor Championship

The Warriors will look to finish the weekend strong in the consolation bracket over the next two days.

KEARNEY, Neb. -- The No. 14-ranked Wayne State women's tennis team (2-3 overall) suffered a 4-0 first round defeat at the hands of second-ranked Nova Southeastern University (4-1 overall) in the opening match of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championship on Friday afternoon inside Ernest Grundy Tennis Center.

The Warriors were seeded seventh within the eight-team event, while the Sharks were placed second for the tournament.

DOUBLES
NSU started the festivities on Friday by claiming the doubles point.

In a heavyweight battle between two of the best doubles teams in the country, WSU's Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) and Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland) squared off against Nova Southeastern's Natalie Espinal and Freya Davies.  The Sharks' duo came into the contest as the top-ranked doubles pairing in Division II, while the Warriors' tandem was not far behind in third.  The NSU team collected a 6-3 victory at the first flight.

The other completed doubles affair was at the No. 3 spot, where Justine Beaulieu (Montreal, Que.) and Dessyre Obedencio (Warren, Mich. / Cousino) suffered the same 6-3 setback to Ita Habekovic and Patricie Kubikova.

Wayne State nearly earned a triumph in doubles at the second position, but Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) and Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) were unable to finish quick enough to post the win.  They were ahead 5-3 against Lian Benedejcic and Sofia Shing when play ended abruptly.

SINGLES
The Sharks needed just three points to secure the win and advancement in the tournament, and found those three points in the first three finished singles contests.

Beaulieu and Weekes each dropped their matches at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively, by set scores of 6-1 and 6-2.  Beaulieu faced Shing, while Weekes played Habekovic.

In an all-ranked match-up at the first flight, the No. 48-ranked Ruyssen fell 6-3, 6-2 to the 17th-ranked Espinal.  That was the clinching point on the afternoon for Nova Southeastern.

Three contests went unfinished.  Arafat drew a tough challenge in Weir, who came into the day as the sixth-ranked singles player in Division II.  The sophomore lost the first set 6-4, but claimed the second 6-1 and was ahead 2-1 in the final set before play finished.

Komar and Davies split the first two sets as well, each with 6-2 scores.  The third set at the third position never began.

Szpakowska and Benedejcic played a hard-fought first set at the No. 4 position, which needed a tiebreaker.  Benedejcic claimed a 7-5 triumph in that tiebreaker to move ahead, but Szpakowska was ahead 1-0 in the early stages of the next set.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will face Columbus State on Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern in a consolation match inside Ernest Grundy Tennis Center.  The Cougars fell 4-3 to Saint Leo in Friday's first match.  CSU is ranked sixth in the country by the ITA and is also seeded in that position for the weekend.

 
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