ITHACA, N.Y. — Mai Nguyen provided the clincher as the Rutgers women’s tennis team (5-2, 0-0 B1G) came back to defeat Cornell (2-4), 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at the Reis Tennis Center. After falling down 3-1 to the Big Red, the Scarlet Knights locked in and claimed three-straight singles victories to take home the dual.
“Today’s win was a huge team effort,” said head coach Hilary Ritchie. “After narrowly losing doubles, everyone fought. We were down, 3-1, and won three singles (matches). Mai was able to handle the pressure, and clinch the team victory.”
Doubles
The Big Red took an early 1-0 after clinching a close doubles point.
To get the round going, Nguyen and Minchae Kim provided a 6-2 win for RU at the second lineup spot.
Cornell then won the first and third courts to take the point.
Singles
Cornell got singles play going by doubling its lead with a win on court No. 1.
Kim then provided Rutgers with a point, coming back to beat Victoria Zhao, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The Big Red did not let up, though, claiming another win on the third court to stay ahead, 3-1.
With their backs against the wall, the Scarlet Knights recorded three-straight singles wins, all coming in three sets, to clinch the match.
Naomi Karki and Jackeline Lopez kept RU alive, each winning on their courts to equalize the match at three.
With all eyes on court No. 4 to provide a winner, Nguyen secured the victory, 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-4, over Jenny Wong to give RU the dual.
Results
Doubles
- Emma Baker/Lauren Stein (Cornell) def. Tara Chilton/Yana Gurevich (RU)…
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