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Wayne State University Athletics

4
Winner Tiffin University TUWOMEN (14-1)
3
Wayne State WSUW (8-5)
Winner
Tiffin University TUWOMEN
(14-1)
4
Final
3
Wayne State WSUW
(8-5)
Shanice Weekes vs. Tiffin (03/20/2024)
Sarah Lohr
Shanice Weekes was one of three Warriors to win in singles on Wednesday vs. Tiffin.

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

Women's Tennis Falls Short in 4-3 Setback to #29-Tiffin

The Warriors had won all four regular season home contests prior to Wednesday.

DETROIT -- The No. 11-ranked Wayne State University women's tennis team (8-5 overall) returned home to Detroit for the first time in over two weeks, but fell 4-3 to No. 29-ranked Tiffin University (14-1 overall) in a regional battle on Wednesday afternoon inside the Duchene Athletic Facility.

Wednesday was WSU's first match back from its annual Spring Break trip throughout Florida, which the team went 2-1 on.  It was also their first home match-up since hosting Indianapolis on March 3.

The Warriors came into the day ranked 11th via the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) computerized rankings.  They had been ranked third in the nation in the week prior.

DOUBLES
Doubles proved to be critical in the outcome of the match, and the Dragons emerged with the point to surge ahead 1-0.

Both of the Green and Gold's nationally-ranked duos lost to their Tiffin opponents.  Fourth-ranked Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) and Marta Komar (Inowroclaw, Poland) were defeated 7-5 by No. 44-ranked Maeva Maxch and Anaelle Lepinay at the No. 1 spot, while No. 35-ranked Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) and Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) were downed 6-4 by Jemimah Choi and Emily Barrett.

With those being the first two finished contests, TU secured the opening point.  On a positive note, WSU's third doubles tandem of Shanice Weekes (London, England) and Justine Beaulieu (Montreal, Que.) were victorious in their match.  They handled Jessica Peace and Carina Avram by a 6-4 margin for their second doubles win together this season.

SINGLES
Wayne State and Tiffin split the six singles matches, which made the doubles point all the more important on Wednesday.

The Warriors' three triumphs came from Komar, Weekes, and Dea Gorgidze (Tbilisi, Georgia), who saw action for the first time on the afternoon.

Komar won in straight sets at the No. 3 position, as the No. 64-ranked singles player dropped Barrett with 6-2 and 7-6 (7-3) scores.  Gorgidze also tallied a victory in straight sets, doing so with 6-2 and 6-3 decisions against Peace at the fifth flight.

Weekes needed a come-from-behind effort vs. Avram at the No. 6 position.  After suffering a 6-2 loss in the opening set, the sophomore rattled off set triumphs of 6-2 and 10-0 (10-point super tiebreaker) to gain her seventh victory of the spring slate.

Ruyssen, the No. 16-ranked player in the nation, had back-to-back losses of 6-2 in her defeat at the hands of Maxch at the first flight.

The No.. 2 and No. 4 spots both required three sets to determine a winner.  Arafat (ranked No. 74) drew Lepinay at the second position, and despite a 6-3 win in the second set fell 6-2 and 6-4 in the other two.

Over at the fourth flight, Szpakowska lost the first dual singles match of her two-year collegiate career.  The sophomore (ranked No. 67), earned a 7-5 victory in the second set vs. Choi, but the Tiffin student-athlete claimed the other two sets (6-2 and 6-3) to grab the victory.  Szpakowska had entered the contest a perfect 18-0 at the No. 4 spot (11-0 this season) and 16-0 at the No. 5 position in her career, which marked 43 consecutive triumphs in dual matches before her setback on Wednesday.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will remain at home to battle Division I Oakland University on Sunday, March 24, at 11 a.m. from the Duchene Athletic Facility.

 
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