Wayne State University Athletics

Women's Tennis 5/8/2024 12:00:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Tennis to Open NCAA Tournament Against Ferris State in Midwest Regional

WSU will look to secure a spot in the NCAA Round of 16 for a second consecutive season.

DETROIT -- The No. 21-ranked Wayne State University women's tennis team will compete in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional beginning on Friday, May 10, in Norwalk, Ohio. WSU, the No. 3 seed, will square off with the No. 6 seed Ferris State at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to play either #24-Tiffin (the No. 2 seed) or Northwood (the No. 7 seed) on Saturday.

Tiffin University will host this section of the regional (Indianapolis will host the other as the region's top seed) and matches will be played outdoors at the tennis courts of Norwalk High School in weather permits. In the case of inclement weather, matches will be moved to Court 1 Tennis in Sandusky, Ohio. TU will battle with NU at 10 a.m. on Friday, just prior to the contest between the Warriors and the Bulldogs. Saturday's affair between the two winners is scheduled for a 10 a.m. first serve.

The winner of this four-team section of the Midwest Regional, as well as the winners of the other 15 regions across the nation, will advance to Altamonte Springs, Fla., and Sanlando Park for the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. The Florida rounds are scheduled for Monday, May 20, through Friday, May 24.

The Warriors will participate at the championships for the 14th time in program history. They will do so as the GLIAC Regular-Season Champions and GLIAC Tournament Champions after recording a perfect season within the conference. That included a 7-0 ledger in the regular season, along with victories over Saginaw Valley State (4-2) and Grand Valley State (4-0) in the conference tournament. The Green and Gold has played FSU once already this season, which was a 6-1 home triumph on April 14 that essentially secured the regular-season title.

WSU received an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship as tournament winners, which was the third straight season in which that was the case. Wayne State also topped the other GLIAC programs in the league's postseason tournament for the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. The Green and Gold enters the Midwest Regional on a 10-match winning streak for an 18-5 overall ledger, along with a 13-2 mark in the region. A full rundown of the team and individual season statistics can be found HERE.

In 2023, the women's tennis program advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time in school history, but dropped a 4-0 decision to Hawaii Pacific in that round. WSU recorded a 3-1 ledger during last season's NCAA Championships, which included a pair of wins on home court as the Warriors hosted a section of the Midwest Regional. The team defeated Michigan Tech, Grand Valley State, and Indiana (Pa.) a season ago. The 2023 performance ultimately became the Green and Gold's most successful campaign since 2014, when Wayne State advanced to the Round of 16 but fell to Armstrong Atlantic.

MIDWEST REGION SEEDS AND PROJECTED LINEUP
This season's format for the NCAA Midwest Regional features seven programs seeded first through seventh. The region consists of teams from the GLIAC, the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). Indianapolis received the top seed and will play the winner of No. 4 seed Findlay and No. 5 seed Grand Valley State in the second part of the regional. The full list of seeds for the region is as follows -- Indianapolis (1), Tiffin (2), Wayne State (3), Findlay (4), Grand Valley State (5), Ferris State (6), and Northwood (7).

Below is Wayne State's projected lineup for the 2024 NCAA Championships and Midwest Regional.

SINGLES
1. Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France)
2. Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt)
3. Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland)
4. Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland)
5. Dea Gorgidze (Tbilisi, Georgia)
6. Justine Beaulieu (Montreal, Que.)
7. Shanice Weekes (London, England)
8. Dessyre Obedencio (Warren, Mich. / Cousino)

DOUBLES
1. Ruyssen and Komar
2. Arafat and Szpakowska
3. Gorgidze and Beaulieu
4. Weekes and Obedencio

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released another round of Division II rankings on Thursday, May 2. Included were the 12th round of National Rankings and the ninth rounds of National Singles and Doubles Rankings for the current campaign. Wayne State appeared as the No. 21-ranked team in the country by the ITA's computerized rankings, which was an increase of six positions from the previous list revealed by the association on April 24.

Individually, Anais Ruyssen in 49th was the only player ranked nationally in singles for the Warriors. Ruyssen and her doubles partner Marta Komar were 25th in that category -- a drop of seven spots from the previous week.

This round of computerized rankings will be the last until May 29, when the postseason will be completed and champions have been crowned. All new rankings provided by the ITA can be found HERE.

Stay tuned to WSUAthletics.com all weekend long for continuing coverage of both the men's and women's NCAA Midwest Regionals on the path to Altamonte Springs, Fla.

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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

Dessyre Obedencio: 5' 4"; Freshman

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

Dessyre Obedencio
: 5' 4"; Freshman