Women's Tennis 3/6/2024 9:30:00 AM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Tennis to Play Three Matches on Spring Break Trip Across Florida

WSU will play Florida National, Palm Beach Atlantic, and Flagler on the road swing.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's tennis squad is scheduled to compete in three matches as part of its Spring Break swing throughout the state of Florida. WSU will begin its road trip at NAIA member Florida National on Thursday, March 7, before traveling to West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, March 9. The Warriors will conclude the three-match slate with a neutral site contest against Flagler on Tuesday, March 12.

Start times and locations for the three matches are as follows -
FNU - 12 p.m. at Goodlet Park in Hialeah, Fla.
PBA - 12 p.m. at Mitch Gornto Tennis Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Flagler - 11 a.m. at NSU Tennis Complex at Rolling Hills in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The match-up with the Saints on March 12 will be held on the campus of Nova Southeastern University.

Wayne State enters Thursday's affair with Florida National on a four-match winning streak, which includes victories over #6-Columbus State (4-1), Nebraska Kearney (4-2), Hillsdale (6-1), and #11-Indianapolis (4-1).

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association will be releasing a plethora of new rankings on Wednesday, March 6. The association will provide its fourth round of National Rankings, in which WSU was eighth, 14th, and 10th in each of the first three polls. There will also be the first National Singles and Doubles lists of the spring season. The ITA has not released new rankings in those categories since the end of the fall tournament slate on November 15.

In the most recent National Rankings from February 28, one of Wayne State's opponents in the coming week, Flagler, was nationally ranked. The Saints appeared in sixth behind Barry, Nova Southeastern, West Alabama, Saint Leo, and Washburn.

The new rankings provided by the ITA can be found HERE.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State capitalized on a pair of home victories this past week against Hillsdale and Indianapolis, winning both matches by scores of 6-1 and 4-1, respectively.

The team's win over UIndy evened up the season series with the Greyhounds, after Indianapolis posted a 4-2 win at its home on February 11. Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) was key for the Warriors' win this past Sunday, rebounding from a first set loss (6-4) to defeat Diane Flament with set victories of 6-0 and 7-5 to serve as the clinching point of the contest.

WAYNE STATE
The Warriors are 6-3 on the 2024 campaign, with its only losses to nationally-ranked programs in #15-Washburn, #12-Indianapolis, and #2-Nova Southeastern.

Several members of the Green and Gold have had impressive starts to the year. Ruyssen, a redshirt junior, is 11-4 overall in singles play, with a 7-3 ledger at the No. 1 position. Sophomore Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) has not lost in eight dual matches at the fourth flight, while maintaining a 13-2 mark between the fall and spring. Meanwhile, freshman Justine Beaulieu has held down the fort at the No. 5 position, sporting a record above .500 at 5-4. Sophomore Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) and redshirt junior Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland) have split time between the second and third singles flights.

Ruyssen and Komar are 20-5 for the season in doubles, including a 9-2 record at the first flight. Arafat and Szpakowska are 6-1 at the No. 2 spot, while three different tandems have seen time for the Warriors at the third doubles position.

NOTE: Some records may not be accurate after the Lawrence Tech and Northwestern Ohio matches being retroactively marked an exhibitions on March 29.

AT FLORIDA NATIONAL (3/7)
The Warriors will begin their stay in Florida with a contest at the NAIA's Conquistadors on Thursday, March 7. FNU's 4-3 win over Ave Maria in its last match on February 28 was its first win of 2024. Florida National had lost its first six prior to that decision, including to the likes of several tough opponents in Tampa, Rollins, Embry-Riddle, Eckerd, and Lynn.

WSU shut out the Conquistadors 7-0 in both prior meetings, both in Hialeah, Fla. Those affairs came on March 9, 2020, and March 10, 2023.

Frederico Palombo is the head coach of Florida National in his sixth season. Palombo is assisted by Ivis Carrera Valdes, Valentina Abrile, and Andrea Guzman Granada.

AT PALM BEACH ATLANTIC (3/9)
The Green and Gold will make its second stop in West Palm Beach, Fla., for a meeting with the Sailfish of Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, March 9. PBA is 2-7 overall this season and will play two more matches against Southern New Hampshire (Wednesday) and St. Thomas (Thursday) prior to facing the Warriors. Palm Beach Atlantic's two wins as of Wednesday morning have been over Florida National (5-2) and Ave Maria (4-3).

Saturday will be the fourth time since 2020 that WSU and PBA have squared off with one another. The Sailfish won the first two match-ups 5-2 and 4-3 on March 6, 2020, and March 14, 2022, respectively, but the Green and Gold nabbed its first win in the most recent affair (6-1) on March 13, 2023.

Palm Beach Atlantic is coached by Marc Murray in his second season. The Sailfish went 5-15 overall in Murray's first campaign a year ago. He is assisted by Andres Meneses.

VS. FLAGLER (3/12)
Wayne State will conclude its three-match trek with a date vs. Flagler on Tuesday, March 12. The Saints enter Wednesday, March 6th's contest vs. Valdosta State with a 3-2 record. After dropping its first two matches of the season against West Alabama and Nebraska Kearney at the ITA National Indoor Championship, Flagler has reeled off three consecutive triumphs over Columbus State (4-1), University of Charleston (6-1), and Ferris State (5-2).

WSU and Flagler will be meeting for the first time in program history.

The Saints are coached by Rodrigo Puebla in his eighth season at the helm of the program in St. Augustine, Fla. Puebla has led Flagler to a 116-47 (.712) overall record and a 44-8 (.846) mark within the Peach Belt Conference. He is assisted by Aline Berkenbrock.

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Players Mentioned

Malak Arafat: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Justine Beaulieu: 5' 4"; Freshman

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

Marta Komar
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Anais Ruyssen
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Martyna Szpakowska
: 5' 8"; Sophomore