KEARNEY, Neb. -- The No. 14-ranked Wayne State University women's tennis squad (3-3 overall) recovered from its first round loss to down #6-Columbus State (3-2 overall) by a 4-1 margin on Saturday morning in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championship.
The match was once again held inside the Ernest Grundy Tennis Center in Kearney, Neb. The Warriors were the seventh seed, while the Cougars were seeded sixth within the field of eight. It was a consolation match for both sides after first-round defeats on Friday.
DOUBLES
WSU handled its business in doubles action, moving ahead 1-0 with the all-important first point of the session.
At the No. 3 spot,
Justine Beaulieu (Montreal, Que.) was playing with
Dea Gorgidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) in Gorgidze's first action of the spring schedule. The duo claimed a 6-4 win over CSU's Agostina Bigotti and Laura Pesickova.
In what was an all-ranked affair at the first flight, WSU's
Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) and
Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland) - the nation's third-ranked tandem - faced the fifth-ranked Nikoline Gullacksen and Mariana Ramirez. The Green and Gold team prevailed 7-5 over their Cougars' opponents to clinch the doubles point.
Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) and
Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) were ahead 6-5 vs. Yelena Labat and Idadora Oliveira when action at the No. 2 position was called early.
SINGLES
The Warriors nabbed their first win of the tournament by notching three of the four completed singles matches.
Beaulieu was strong at the No. 5 position, downing Bigotti 6-3, 6-2 for Wayne State's second point of the contest.
Allowing just two points in her match at the fourth position was Szpakowska, as the sophomore Warrior defeated Pesickova 6-2, 6-0 to advance the Green and Gold's advantage to 3-0.
Columbus State's lone point of the morning came at the No. 2 spot courtesy of Gullacksen. Arafat fell 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in that affair.
However, that was all CSU could muster as Weekes went down to the wire with Labat and emerged victorious. The sophomore, with limited playing time to this point in the season, recorded a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win at the sixth spot to finish the triumph for the team.
Ruyssen and Komar's matches at the first and third flights did not finish. Ruyssen won set one over Ramirez 6-4, but lost the second 6-3 and was down 5-1 when the contest ended prematurely.
Komar almost registered a win, but fell just short of the accomplishment. She earned a 6-2 triumph in the opening set vs. Oliveira, but was defeated 6-4 in the second. The redshirt junior was in front 5-2 at the conclusion of the competition.
UP NEXT
Wayne State will play in the fifth-place match against the hosts, University of Nebraska, Kearney, on Sunday inside the Ernest Grundy Tennis Center. The Lopers solidified their spot in the contest with a 4-2 victory over Flagler on Saturday. UNK is the eighth seed in the tournament, with WSU the seven seed.
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