Courtesy of Wayne State Athletic Communications
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- The 27th-ranked Wayne State University women's tennis squad (14-4 overall) pulled off the only first round upset on both the men's and women's draws at the 2025 NCAA Division 2 tennis championships being held at Sanlando Park. The Warriors upended No. 23-Dallas Baptist (23-5 overall) 4-1 in a round of 16 match-up on Wednesday afternoon.
DBU had won six matches in a row and their losses on the year were at Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-3 on March 29), at Texas-Tyler (4-3 on April 11), vs. St. Mary's (4-3 on April 12) and at Midwestern State (5-2 on April 18). The Lady Patriots were competing in the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history, while the Warriors have now won a Sweet 16 match for the third consecutive year.
WSU began the match with a 6-0 triumph at first doubles as the 23rd-ranked duo of graduate student Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) and redshirt junior Dea Gorgidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) defeated Isabella Arana Rios and Madalyn Smelley.
DBU notched a 6-3 win at third doubles, before WSU claimed the doubles point as junior Malak Arafat (Alexandria, Egypt) and sophomore Justine Beaulieu (Montreal, Que.) won 6-3 at second doubles.
The Lady Patriots tied the match at 1-1 as Lone Star Conference Player of the Year Emily Buchanan improved to 26-0 with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Beaulieu at No. 5 singles.
Gorgidze posted a 6-3, 6-0 victory at third singles to regain the lead at 2-1 for WSU.
Ruyssen extended the advantage to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph at No. 1 singles.
Junior Shanice Weekes (London, England) finished the win for the Warriors with a 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) victory at fourth singles.
Arafat had split sets (6-2, 5-7) at No. 2 singles, while junior Martyna Szpakowska (Gdansk, Poland) had lost the first set (7-5), but was leading 5-4 in the second set at No. 6 singles when the match was halted. Those two matches will go as unfinished.
UP NEXT
Wayne State (14-4) will play No. 3-ranked Midwestern State (22-3 overall) in the quarterfinals at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The Mustangs advanced with a 4-2 win over Rockhurst on Wednesday.
