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Wayne State University Athletics

3
Wayne State WSUW (9-1)
4
Winner Bowling Green BGSU-W (4-5)
Wayne State WSUW
(9-1)
3
Final
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Bowling Green BGSU-W
(4-5)
Winner
Martyna Szpakowska and Malak Arafat Action Photo
Martyna Szpakowska (front) and Malak Arafat (back) both won their singles matches on Friday at BGSU.

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

Women's Tennis Defeated 4-3 by Bowling Green

The Warriors nearly pull off the victory over a Division I member.

PERRYSBURG, Ohio -- The Wayne State University women's tennis team (9-1 overall) battled it out against its only Division I opponent of the season in Bowling Green State University (4-5 overall), but the Falcons nipped the Warriors by a 4-3 score on Friday afternoon inside the Perrysburg Tennis Center. 

DOUBLES
BGSU topped WSU in doubles action, claiming two of the three matches. 

The Wayne State victory came at the No. 2 spot, with Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) and Sabrina Laynes (Saginaw, Mich.) pulling through with a 7-5 victory over Lucy Furness and Leticia Fonseca of Bowling Green. 

Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) and Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland) fell 6-0 at the No. 1 spot.

The Warriors nearly earned the first point of the afternoon, as Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) and Shanice Weekes (London, England) played a tiebreaker at the No. 3 spot. However, they lost 7-3 and the match, 7-6.

SINGLES
The Warriors and Falcons split the six singles matches evenly with three wins apiece.

Fresh off her GLIAC Player of the Week award, Ruyssen improved to 10-0 in singles with her 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 1 spot.

The Warriors moved ahead, 2-1, in the overall match with Szpakowska's triumph at the No. 4 singles spot. She defeated Maru Poppe, 6-3, 6-0. The freshman also moved to 10-0 (5-0 at No. 4, 5-0 at No. 5) in singles play for the spring season.

Komar looked strong in the first set against Eloise Saraty, moving ahead with a 7-5 decision. Unfortunately, the junior was forced to retire from the match, granting Bowling Green another point. 

Arafat put the Green and Gold ahead 3-2 with a comeback effort, winning the second (6-3) and third (6-2) sets after dropping the first set 6-0 in the action at the No. 3 spot.

BGSU would claim victory in the final two individual matches at No. 5 and No. 6 to clinch the match. Weekes fell at No. 5 (6-4, 6-2) in straight sets, while Suki Mandair (Dexter, Mich.) won 6-4 in her first set, but fell in the next two (6-4, 6-0).

FROM THE PLAYERS
"Unfortunately, we lost some close matches today. We played a tough team and this will only motivate us to fight harder moving forward. This was a great teaching moment for the girls and although today wasn't a win, matches like this help us on our toes and will make us well-prepared for our GLIAC season," said Sabrina Laynes.

UP NEXT
After Saturday's match vs. Hillsdale was postponed due to inclement weather, Wayne State will next play its Florida swing, starting with a contest at Florida National on Friday, March 10, at noon.


 
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