Northwest Wayne News

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced its annual postseason tennis awards, with Wayne State University's women's tennis team receiving significant recognition. Anais Ruyssen from Nantes, France, was named Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons.

Ruyssen also secured a spot on the All-GLIAC First Team for singles alongside Malak Arafat from Alexandria, Egypt. This marks Ruyssen's third consecutive year on the First Team. Marta Komar from Inowroclaw, Poland, and Martyna Szpakowska from Gdansk, Poland, were selected for the All-GLIAC Second Team. Dea Gorgidze from Tbilisi, Georgia received an All-GLIAC Honorable Mention.

In doubles play, both the pairs of Arafat/Szpakowska and Ruyssen/Komar were named to the All-GLIAC First Team after the conference divided honors between singles and doubles disciplines.

Ruyssen had a strong 2024 season in both singles and doubles competitions. She maintained a top 40 national ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) throughout spring and achieved a 14-5 record against top players in singles matches. Her notable victories included defeating Si Karlsson Hantzis of Palm Beach Atlantic and Diane Flament of Indianapolis. Ruyssen finished league play undefeated at 6-0.

In doubles competition with her partner Marta Komar, Ruyssen held a 14-6 record overall and celebrated a victory over Columbus State's fifth-ranked duo during the ITA Women's National Indoor Championships.

This accolade marks the fifth instance since 2002 that a Warrior has been honored as Player of the Year by GLIAC.

Arafat earned her first All-GLIAC First Team honors this year after being part of the Second Team last season. She recorded a 14-6 singles record with an unbeaten 7-0 within GLIAC matches. In doubles, she achieved a 16-3 overall record mostly partnering with Szpakowska.

Komar has been recognized as an All-GLIAC honoree for three consecutive years now but moved to Second Team status this year after previously making First Team in prior seasons. She played primarily at No. 3 singles with an overall record of 11-6 in singles and went 13-7 in doubles alongside Ruyssen.

Szpakowska advanced to Second Team honors this season following her Honorable Mention status last year. She excelled with a regular-season singles record of 17-1 mainly playing at fourth flight position and had success in doubles largely paired with Arafat.

Gorgidze was acknowledged for her performance as an Honorable Mention on All-GLIAC teams for her first time achieving such recognition in collegiate tennis. She posted impressive records both in singles (10-1) and doubles (8-3), often teaming up with Shanice Weekes from London, England.

Wayne State University enters this weekend's GLIAC Tournament as top seed after clinching Regular Season Championship title finishing undefeated at 7–0 league standing held Midland Michigan venue hosting event tournament games played out upcoming days ahead.