Ferris Women's Tennis Upsets Ranked Foe

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's tennis team wrapped up regular-season play by upsetting nationally-ranked Washburn (Kan.) by a 5-3 score on Friday (March 12) in Topeka, Kan.

The unranked Bulldogs picked up the win over the Ichabods, who were ranked 34th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II National Rankings, at the Wood Valley Courts in wrapping up their annual spring break trip.

The match was the final scheduled regular-season dual encounter for the Bulldog women's team, which improved to 12-8 overall this campaign with the triumph.

Washburn fell to 3-2 overall this year after falling behind 3-0 following doubles action in the non-league tilt.

The Bulldogs received doubles wins from the pairing of Amy Ingle and Tiffany Rheynard at the top flight along with the grouping of Natalie Diorio and Mary Coleman at the second spot and the tandem of Melissa Flowers and Daniela Dimas at third doubles.  Diorio and Coleman posted an 8-6 win at the number two flight while the first and third positions were decided by scores of 8-2 and 8-1, respectively.

The Ichabods came back to win the top three singles flights, but FSU secured the victory by winning the fourth and fifth spots in individual play.

Washburn's Trang LeNguyen was a straight-set winner at number one singles while Morgan Rainey (#2) and Whitley Zitsch (#3) also tallied wins for the hosts in singles action.  However, the Bulldogs' Flowers claimed a third-set tiebreaker at the fourth flight and Diorio was a straight-set winner at the number five spot for FSU.

The victory was the second-straight to conclude a four-match trip to Missouri and Kansas over the annual spring break period this week for the Ferris State women's team.