NCAA Womens Tennis

Tennis to Welcome UMass for Saturday Evening Match

Tennis to Welcome UMass for Saturday Evening Match


EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers women’s tennis team (7-1) will host the UMass on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. at the East Brunswick Racquet Club. 

The match will be live streamed via PlaySight. 

Last Time Out

Rutgers hosted a trio of matches last weekend, picking up three wins. The team defeated Seton Hall (6-1) and LIU (4-0) in doubleheader action on Friday, Feb. 10 before defeating Fairleigh Dickinson (7-0) on Feb. 12. 

RU picked up 17 singles victories led by Chloe Brown and Tara Chilton, who both went 3-0. The Scarlet Knights also dominated in doubles, winning the first point in all three matches.

 

Strong Start 

The Scarlet Knights came out hot in the spring, starting off with a perfect 4-0 record. The team earned wins over Bucknell (7-0), Binghamton (7-0), Drexel (6-1) and Army (5-2) for their first undefeated start since 2018. The Scarlet Knights’ current 7-1 record is the best for the program since 2003.  

Four Scarlet Knights remain undefeated this spring in Arina Valitova (5-0), Daira Cardenas (4-0) and Amira Badawi (3-0). Valitova has won all five matches at the No. 5 singles spot in straight-sets, allowing no more than four points in a set.  

 

Rutgers has also been solid in doubles, winning the first point in all but one match this season. Valitova and partner Jackeline Lopez are a perfect 6-0 on the slate while Minchae Kim/Chloe Brown (2-0) and Brown/Badawi (1-0) are also undefeated. 

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…

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