PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers women’s tennis team (9-5, 0-3 B1G) will return home from a five-match road trip to face No. 50 Maryland (11-3, 1-1) on Sunday, March 26 at 12 p.m. The match will be the team’s first outdoor contest, as well as the Big Ten home opener, of the season and take place at Piscataway High School’s tennis courts.
The courts are located on the corner of Hoes Lane and Behmer Road in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Last Time Out
Rutgers ended nonconference play with a sweep of Southern University (1-10, 1-2 SWAC), earning a 7-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.
RU started off the match with a dominant performance in doubles, allowing just one game point between all three matches to secure the lead. The Scarlet Knights continued on with excellent singles play, winning all six matches in straight sets.
The decision marks the fourth sweep for the Scarlet Knights this season.
Strong Start
The Scarlet Knights came out hot in the spring, starting off with a perfect 4-0 record. The team earned sweeps over Bucknell (7-0), Binghamton (7-0) in addition to wins against Drexel (6-1) and Army (5-2) for their first and best undefeated start since 2018.
Chilton leads RU with a 9-4 singles record, playing all 13 matches on the second court. Jackeline Lopez has also been solid at the top lineup spot with a 8-5 mark.
Rutgers has also been strong in doubles, winning the first point in nine matches this season. Valitova and partner Jackeline Lopez are 8-2 on the slate while Kim/Chloe Brown are also undefeated with a 2-0 mark.
Transferring In
RU welcomed two transfers this offseason in Amira Badawi (NJIT) and Tara Chilton (Washington).
Badawi, a native of Cairo, Egypt, compiled a 30-7 record with NJIT over two seasons, including an impressive 22-5 mark playing in the top three singles spots for the Highlanders in 2021-22, a season that ended with a second place showing in the Southland Conference Tournament.
In her two seasons at Washington, Chilton compiled an 18-18 singles and 17-14 doubles record. Last year as a sophomore, Chilton and the No. 37 Huskies played to a 14-12 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. She went 7-2 in singles tournament play including reaching the round of 32 at ITA Northwest Regional.
Freshmen Duo
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