Rutgers University
Pittsburgh
Rutgers Tops Pittsburgh In First Round of BIG EAST Tournament
Apr 17 | Women's Tennis
TAMPA, Fla. - The Rutgers women's tennis team won its fourth consecutive match and advanced to the second round of the 2008 BIG EAST Tournament with a convincing 4-1 win over Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon at the Varsity Courts on the campus of USF.
The Scarlet Knights improve to 14-8 overall, while the Panthers fall to 11-8. Rutgers won three of the four completed singles matches and captured the doubles point to garner the 4-1 win.
Freshman Amy Zhang (Plano, Texas) and sophomores Caitlin Baker (Altoona, Pa.) and Christine Tran (Centreville, Va.) each posted singles victories for the Scarlet Knights. Zhang won her 12th straight match by defeating Sabrina Visram 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, while Baker topped Christie D'Achille 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 4 spot. Tran rounded out the RU singles victories with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Leah Friedman at No. 5.
In the doubles, Polina Zaretser (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Tran picked up an 8-4 victory at No. 2 over Visram and D'Achille, while Baker and Zhang topped Carlie Smith and Friedman 8-3 at the No. 3 spot.
Rutgers will begin second round action Friday at 9 a.m. against No. 1 seed Notre Dame. The Irish, ranked No. 16 in the country, have won the BIG EAST Championship two of the last three seasons and have reached the title match in all 12 years since becoming a conference member. The Irish are led by senior Brook Buck and junior Kelcy Tefft, who have been the No. 1-ranked doubles duo on the ITA list since March 4. Tefft is also ranked No. 41 on the singles list.
Rutgers and Notre Dame did not play during the BIG EAST regular season.
AGATE:
Rutgers 4, Pittsburgh 1
Singles:
No. 1 Katrina Elder-Bush (RU) led Kristy Borza (Pitt), 6-2, 5-2
No. 2 Amy Zhang (RU) def. Sabrina Visram (Pitt), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 Elizabeth Adams (Pitt) def. Katherine Arlak (RU), 6-4, 6-0
No. 4 Caitlin Baker (RU) def. Christie D'Achillie (Pitt), 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 Christine Tran (RU) def. Carlie Smith (Pitt), 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Anela Dujsic (RU) led Leah Friedman (Pitt), 6-1, 2-5
Doubles:
No. 1 Elder-Bush/Arlak (RU) led Borza/Adams (Pitt), 6-5
No. 2 Zaretser/Tran (RU) def. Visram/D'Achille (Pitt), 8-4
No. 3 Zhang/Baker (RU) def. Smith/Friedman (Pitt), 8-3
