Tennis 2017-18 Season Preview
Sep 20 | Women's Tennis
Scarlet Knights prepared to transition from young team to competitive threat
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Sept. 20, 2017) – A two-year influx of young talent to the Rutgers women's tennis roster gives the Scarlet Knights a new look, a fresh philosophy and a skillset to build on last season's success.
Despite beginning only her second season as head coach, Hilary Ritchie knows Rutgers tennis well. She was an assistant coach in the program since 2010 before taking the reins in the summer of 2016. While six of the nine players are in their first or second years at the dawn of a brand new campaign, Ritchie knows nothing is stopping them from playing like veterans on the courts this season.
"This is a transitional year for us," Ritchie said. "The last two incoming classes are bringing a lot of excitement to our program. They're ready for new expectations and to be pushed. With our fall invitationals, we're looking to gauge our expectations and focus on goals to bring with us into the spring season."
The Slate
Looking ahead to the perennially challenging Big Ten schedule in 2018, the non-conference tournament schedule in the fall plays an important role. The Scarlet Knights head out to three invitationals and the ITA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, and while RU is certainly united as a team, the autumn is a time to focus on individual attention before coming together as a unit. Ritchie purposely started the fall schedule a week later than normal to allow for an additional invitational following the ITA Regional Championships in order to get some momentum rolling into 2018.
In the new year, the Big Ten slate awaits with three NCAA Tournament qualifiers from one season ago, while two programs (Ohio State and Michigan), three singles players and three doubles duos ranked among the top 25 in the final ITA rankings.
"The fall is where we can break out and push to see how far we can get as individuals," Ritchie said. "It's fun to see who blossoms at the tournaments and ITA Regionals, and how it translates to dual matches. Some players almost get paralyzed competing for a team, but if you can allow them to want to win for themselves, they can focus on getting each point."
The Experience
Three seniors bring the bulk of the experience to the Scarlet Knights in Mingxiu Du, Chloe Lee and Lee Levy. The trio has combined for 38 singles wins and 48 doubles victories over their careers, so the knowledge and culture of winning starts with them. Du was Rutgers' No. 1 singles players for the majority of the 2016-17 season with 13 victories across the top two singles flights.
Lee enters her swan song with 21 singles wins and 25 doubles victories, while Levy is coming off her best tournament season with a singles victory and a 4-1 doubles mark last fall.
"All three seniors will have a big leadership role in terms of the philosophy of who we are and what we stand for," Ritchie said. "Du will be looked to lead us in our top singles and doubles spots, and Lee and Chloe are some of the best teammates you can ask for."
The Youth
"The interesting thing with our team this year is there can be three freshmen challenging for our top six spots," Ritchie said.
Maya Jacobs is a highly-touted rookie out of Centercourt Sports Academy. The Linden, N.J. native went a perfect 20-0 at Linden High School before finishing out her high school career with 49 singles victories at Centercourt.
Isabelle Da Silva is a powerful player from Delran, N.J. with valuable experience training at the United States Tennis Association Development camp at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
Kat Rosenberger is also looking to crack the starting lineup as a freshman following a standout career at Lindbergh High School in Missouri. There she won a state and national doubles championship in 2015, and reached as high as No. 3 in the state rankings with a 13-1 singles record as a senior in 2016.
Sophomores Jaci Cochrane, Kat Muzik and Kyra Yap all return for their second years with a season of success under their belts. Cochrane was the Scarlet Knights' leader in doubles wins last season with 17, Muzik went 13-13 in singles play – including a match-clinching victory over Wisconsin – and Yap posted a 4-2 doubles record in tournament play.
The Plan
Ritchie and assistant coach Catarina Lindqvist-Ryan have been placing a focus on doubles pairings and strategies for the 2017-18 season. One year ago, RU went 29-34 overall in doubles play, and will spend time in practice and tournament season working on positioning, court vision and volleys.
"We did very well in singles play last year, so we want to continue that while also improving our doubles results," Ritchie said. "We're hammering home that doubles is a different game, and it will be a year-long process. That's also what tournament season is for; to play with your pairing and learn which duos work best together."
The Start
The Scarlet Knights open the season on Friday-Sunday, Sept. 22-24 at the Brown Invitational in Providence, R.I.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers tennis, follow the program on Twitter (@Rutgerstennis) and Instagram (@RutgersTennis). The team is also on Facebook (facebook.com/RutgersTennis).
Despite beginning only her second season as head coach, Hilary Ritchie knows Rutgers tennis well. She was an assistant coach in the program since 2010 before taking the reins in the summer of 2016. While six of the nine players are in their first or second years at the dawn of a brand new campaign, Ritchie knows nothing is stopping them from playing like veterans on the courts this season.
"This is a transitional year for us," Ritchie said. "The last two incoming classes are bringing a lot of excitement to our program. They're ready for new expectations and to be pushed. With our fall invitationals, we're looking to gauge our expectations and focus on goals to bring with us into the spring season."
The Slate
Looking ahead to the perennially challenging Big Ten schedule in 2018, the non-conference tournament schedule in the fall plays an important role. The Scarlet Knights head out to three invitationals and the ITA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, and while RU is certainly united as a team, the autumn is a time to focus on individual attention before coming together as a unit. Ritchie purposely started the fall schedule a week later than normal to allow for an additional invitational following the ITA Regional Championships in order to get some momentum rolling into 2018.
In the new year, the Big Ten slate awaits with three NCAA Tournament qualifiers from one season ago, while two programs (Ohio State and Michigan), three singles players and three doubles duos ranked among the top 25 in the final ITA rankings.
"The fall is where we can break out and push to see how far we can get as individuals," Ritchie said. "It's fun to see who blossoms at the tournaments and ITA Regionals, and how it translates to dual matches. Some players almost get paralyzed competing for a team, but if you can allow them to want to win for themselves, they can focus on getting each point."
The Experience
Three seniors bring the bulk of the experience to the Scarlet Knights in Mingxiu Du, Chloe Lee and Lee Levy. The trio has combined for 38 singles wins and 48 doubles victories over their careers, so the knowledge and culture of winning starts with them. Du was Rutgers' No. 1 singles players for the majority of the 2016-17 season with 13 victories across the top two singles flights.
Lee enters her swan song with 21 singles wins and 25 doubles victories, while Levy is coming off her best tournament season with a singles victory and a 4-1 doubles mark last fall.
"All three seniors will have a big leadership role in terms of the philosophy of who we are and what we stand for," Ritchie said. "Du will be looked to lead us in our top singles and doubles spots, and Lee and Chloe are some of the best teammates you can ask for."
The Youth
"The interesting thing with our team this year is there can be three freshmen challenging for our top six spots," Ritchie said.
Maya Jacobs is a highly-touted rookie out of Centercourt Sports Academy. The Linden, N.J. native went a perfect 20-0 at Linden High School before finishing out her high school career with 49 singles victories at Centercourt.
Isabelle Da Silva is a powerful player from Delran, N.J. with valuable experience training at the United States Tennis Association Development camp at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
Kat Rosenberger is also looking to crack the starting lineup as a freshman following a standout career at Lindbergh High School in Missouri. There she won a state and national doubles championship in 2015, and reached as high as No. 3 in the state rankings with a 13-1 singles record as a senior in 2016.
Sophomores Jaci Cochrane, Kat Muzik and Kyra Yap all return for their second years with a season of success under their belts. Cochrane was the Scarlet Knights' leader in doubles wins last season with 17, Muzik went 13-13 in singles play – including a match-clinching victory over Wisconsin – and Yap posted a 4-2 doubles record in tournament play.
The Plan
Ritchie and assistant coach Catarina Lindqvist-Ryan have been placing a focus on doubles pairings and strategies for the 2017-18 season. One year ago, RU went 29-34 overall in doubles play, and will spend time in practice and tournament season working on positioning, court vision and volleys.
"We did very well in singles play last year, so we want to continue that while also improving our doubles results," Ritchie said. "We're hammering home that doubles is a different game, and it will be a year-long process. That's also what tournament season is for; to play with your pairing and learn which duos work best together."
The Start
The Scarlet Knights open the season on Friday-Sunday, Sept. 22-24 at the Brown Invitational in Providence, R.I.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers tennis, follow the program on Twitter (@Rutgerstennis) and Instagram (@RutgersTennis). The team is also on Facebook (facebook.com/RutgersTennis).
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