Rutgers Completes First Day of Eastern Championships
Sep 13 | Women's Tennis
Senior co-captain Jennifer Hellier (Annapolis, MD) reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Hellier, the third seed, earned a bye into the second round where she defeated Hofstra’s Mihaela Stefan in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, to move to the quarterfinal round. She will face sixth seeded Whitney Simeik of Connecticut on Saturday.
In No. 3 singles action, third seeded Andrea Weckstein (Holmdel, NJ) reached the quarterfinal round. After a bye in the opening round, Weckstein beat Courtney Michels of Albany, 6-1, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals. She will play Long Island’s Vernonica Apostu-Efrermon on Saturday.
Senior co-captain Carissa Sommerlad (Bradley Beach, NJ), the top seed in the No. 4 singles bracket, will compete in the round of 16 on Saturday against Georgia Bushell of Stony Brook. Sommerlad was awarded a bye into the round of 16 on Friday.
Junior Kaitlin Link (Toronto/Ontario, Canada) reached the quarterfinals of the consolation draw in the No. 2 singles bracket on Friday. She defeated Julie Szegedi of Fairleigh Dicknson, 6-4, 6-2 before earning a bye into the quarterfinal round on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Kristina Bothova of St. John’s beat Link, 6-1, 6-2, in the opening round of the bracket. She will face UVM’s Laura Beth Halter on Saturday.
The doubles team of sophomore Helen Magomedova (Brooklyn, NY) and freshman Alina Balasa (East Brunswick, NJ) earned a spot in the quarterfinal round of the top doubles bracket bye defeating UVM’s Sarah Taylor and Maika Foukal, 8-6. Magomedova and Balasa, the second seed, will play Courntey McGreever and Kate Szymanski of Marist on Saturday. In the No. 2 doubles bracket, third seeded Oksana Manoukian (Old Tappan, NJ) and Jill Markowitz (Forest Hills, NY) beat Howard’s Eryn White and Tanya Hazel, 8-2, on Friday. Manoukian and Markowitz, both newcomers to the RU women’s team in 2002, will face Andrea Suriano and Christina Chachcrone of Fairfield in their quarterfinal match on Saturday.
The Scarlet Knights will compete all day on Saturday in the weekend tournament, with play beginning at 9 a.m.
