Women's Tennis 4/25/2024 2:25:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Top-Seeded Women's Tennis Squad Set for GLIAC Tournament

WSU will look to claim three consecutive tournament titles after winning the previous two editions.

DETROIT -- The No. 27-ranked Wayne State University women's tennis team will compete in the GLIAC Tournament this weekend at the Greater Midland Center in Midland, Mich. The Warriors won the GLIAC Regular-Season Championship and earned a bye in the first round, meaning they will start their journey on Saturday in the semifinals against either Saginaw Valley State or Lake Superior State. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m.

WSU will then look to battle for a third straight GLIAC Tournament Championship on Sunday at 10 a.m., which precedes the men's action slated for 3 p.m. The Green and Gold posted an undefeated 7-0 ledger in the league to top the conference regular-season standings and receive its bye.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
A total of six squads in the eight-team GLIAC qualified for this weekend's tournament, including WSU (7-0 in the league), Ferris State (6-1), Grand Valley State (5-2), Saginaw Valley State (3-4), Lake Superior State (3-4), and Michigan Tech (2-5).

Wayne State's pivotal 6-1 victory over FSU on April 14 in Detroit served as the deciding match for the event's top seed. However, both programs collected a bye in the first round as the best two teams in the conference. WSU will play the winner of SVSU and LSSU, while the Bulldogs' will battle the winner of GVSU and MTU. Those two contests will be held in Midland on Friday.

The Warriors have claimed the GLIAC Tournament Championship in back-to-back years and four times overall in the past five seasons (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023), with the 2020 event not held due to COVID-19. WSU swept both the regular season and tournament titles in 2019 and 2022, and will look to make that happen for a third time this season. In 2023, the Green and Gold won the tournament as a two seed.

In WSU's last four GLIAC Tournament titles, it has defeated GVSU twice (2019 and 2023) and Northwood twice (2018 and 2022) back when the Timberwolves were a member of the GLIAC before moving to the G-MAC.

HOW THEY MADE IT HERE
Wayne State posted a sparkling 16-5 record during the regular season, with the four losses all to nationally-ranked programs in #15-Washburn, #12-Indianapolis, #2-Nova Southeastern, #21-Flagler, and #29-Tiffin. Despite these setbacks, the Green and Gold registered three wins over ranked teams in #25-Findlay, #6-Columbus State, and #11-UIndy. Another signature win from the campaign was 4-2 triumph over Nebraska Kearney at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) National Indoor Championship in February.

The Warriors recorded an impressive 11-2 ledger within the Midwest Region, which will be critical in the quest to host a regional once again in 2024. Wayne State also had a 9-1 mark in 10 home matches this year.

All six regulars in the WSU lineup managed at least 10 singles wins this spring, led by Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) and her 17 triumphs to just one defeat. Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) and Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) both secured 14 wins, primarily playing at the top two positions in the order. Szpakowska (7-0), Arafat (7-0), and Ruyssen (6-0) all went undefeated in the GLIAC during the regular season.

Earning a 12-3 record was Shanice Weekes (London, England), while Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland) was 11-6, mostly at the third flight. Dea Gorgidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) lost just once in singles to muster a 10-1 ledger. Freshman Justine Beaulieu (Montreal, Que.) saw action in 12 completed matches and went 8-4 overall.

In doubles, Ruyssen and Komar were 13-6 as a nationally-ranked duo all season, with each contest at the No. 1 spot. Szpakowska and Arafat were 14-2 at the second position, with an additional two victories at the first flight for an overall 16-2 mark together. Gorgidze and Weekes tallied a 6-1 ledger with one another as the next most-used tandem for Interim Head Coach Yahsha Moore.

NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The NCAA released its second edition of Regional Rankings yesterday afternoon on Wednesday, April 24. A total of nine programs were included for the Midwest Region on the women's side, which includes the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).

This cycle had teams ranked for the first time, as last week's list was merely in alphabetical order. Wayne State is third behind Indianapolis (GLVC) and Tiffin (G-MAC). The rest of the top nine in order includes Findlay (G-MAC), Ferris State (GLIAC), Grand Valley State (GLIAC), Northwood (G-MAC), Drury (GLVC), and Lewis (GLVC).

The top two programs will host a portion of the NCAA Midwest Regionals. The selection show for Division II Women's Tennis will be on NCAA.com at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, May 6, with women's regional action slated for Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
The ITA released another round of Division II rankings yesterday on Wednesday, April 24. Included were the 11th round of National Rankings and the eighth rounds of National Singles and Doubles Rankings for the current campaign. After being ranked 20th last week, Wayne State fell seven spots to 27th in this edition of the computerized rankings. Despite the drop, WSU remains the only ranked program in the conference.

Individually, Anais Ruyssen in 39th is the only player ranked nationally in singles for the Green and Gold. Ruyssen and her usual partner Marta Komar went from 11th to 18th in the rankings for doubles.

These were the last round of computerized rankings for over a month. The next edition will not be released by the ITA until the postseason has been completed on May 29. All new rankings provided by the ITA can be found HERE.

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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

Shanice Weekes: 5' 4"; 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

Shanice Weekes
: 5' 4"; Sophomore