WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The No. 13-seeded Rutgers women’s tennis team (11-12, 1-10 B1G) defeated No. 12 seed Michigan State (9-14, 2-9 B1G), 5-1, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday afternoon in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Scarlet Knights started off hot, winning the doubles point before picking up four singles wins to secure the match win.
The Big Ten Tournament first round win is the first for head coach Hilary Ritchie since she took the reins in 2016.
“Our team really came to play today,” Ritchie said. “From the warmup, they did everything right. They fought hard to put themselves in a good position and closed out sets well. We’re going to be ready for a tough battle with Northwestern.”
Doubles
After a pair of hard-fought doubles matches on the first and third courts, Rutgers emerged victorious with the first point of the match. The doubles point is the first for the Scarlet Knights against a conference opponent this season.
The pair of Tara Chilton/Amira Badawi continued to find success together with a 7-5 win on the top court. They are now 3-2 overall as well as in Big Ten play.
The duo of Mai Nguyen/Minchae Kim clinched the doubles point on the last court for RU, after battling for the 7-6 (4) win. The victory marks the first for the pair.
Singles
Badawi picked up her ninth singles win of the…
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