Northwest Wayne News

The Wayne State University women's tennis team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament, receiving an automatic bid after winning the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament. The team earned the No. 3 seed for the Midwest Region and will compete in Norwalk, Ohio.

This marks the 14th time Wayne State has participated in the NCAA Tournament. Although they qualified in 2020, that year's postseason event was canceled due to the pandemic and did not count towards their record.

Wayne State will face Ferris State, seeded sixth, at Norwalk High School on Friday, May 10. Following this match, Tiffin (the No. 2 seed and hosts) will play Northwood (the No. 7 seed) from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at 2 p.m. The winners of these matches will compete in the regional finals on Saturday, May 11.

The format for this season's Midwest Region includes seven teams. In a separate regional bracket, Indianapolis from the Great Lakes Valley Conference holds the top seed and will face either Findlay or Grand Valley State in their regional finals.

Wayne State has achieved a successful season with ten consecutive victories and clinched both the GLIAC Regular-Season Championship and GLIAC Tournament Championship. They have been ranked nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as Division II's No. 21-ranked program and are currently third in NCAA Midwest Region rankings.

Individually, Anais Ruyssen is ranked as the No. 49 singles player nationally, while she and Marta Komar are ranked 25th in doubles.

In last year's tournament, Wayne State reached the NCAA Quarterfinals but lost to Hawaii Pacific with a score of 4-0.

A total of forty-eight teams were selected for this year's tournament; twenty secured their spots by winning conference titles. Winners from each of sixteen regionals nationwide will proceed to Altamonte Springs, Florida for further rounds starting May 20 through May 24.