Tennis Trips West for Trio of Matches in Illinois

Thursday, March 14

Chicago, Ill.

11:00 AM

Rutgers University

UIC

Photo by: Benjamin Lerner

Tennis Trips West for Trio of Matches in Illinois

Mar 13 | Women's Tennis

Live Stats vs. Northwestern Live Stream vs. Northwestern Live Stats vs. Illinois Live Stream vs. Illinois

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — No. 75 Rutgers women's tennis (8-3, 0-1 B1G) is set for a road trip out west for a trio of matches in Illinois. The Scarlet Knights will start the weekend off against UIC (3-7) on Thursday, March 14 (11:00 a.m. ET), before taking on back-to-back B1G opponents, No. 45 Northwestern (9-4, 0-0 B1G) on Saturday, March 16 (1:00 p.m. ET) and No. 46 Illinois (8-5, 0-0 B1G) on Sunday, March 17 (1:00 p.m. ET).

Last Time Out

Rutgers recorded five singles wins en route to its 5-2 win over Army on Sunday, March 3 at the East Brunswick Racquet Club for its second Community Day match of the season.

At the start of singles play, Tara Chilton equalized the match at one with a straight-sets victory at the first lineup spot. The Black Knights quickly responded, though, jumping back out to a 2-1 lead with a victory on court No. 6.

Mai Nguyen and Minchae Kim quickly put RU back in front, 3-2, with straight-set victories on courts No. 3 and 4.

Naomi Karki added the match-clinching win for the Scarlet Knights. The freshman picked up a victory in her first set, before Paige Herremans tied the match with a second-set win. Karki kept battling, though, cruising to a 6-1 win in the third set to clinch the dual.

Amira Badawi ended the afternoon with a three-set victory at the second court. The senior won her first set, 6-3, before narrowly falling, 6-7(1), in the second frame. Badawi closed out the match with a 10-7 win in a 10-point tiebreak to give the Scarlet Knights their 5-2 victory.

Recapping the 2023 Fall

The Scarlet Knights are coming off a successful fall schedule, where they posted a team record of 78-59 in singles and doubles competitions through seven total events.

Leading the way in singles play was Kim, who claimed 17 total victories, nine singles and eight doubles.

Nguyen also had a strong showing, recording an 8-2 record in singles competitions. The sophomore finished the campaign on a five-match win streak which included two straight-set victories and three comeback wins.

In doubles, the pair of Nguyen and Badawi won five matches together, the most out of RU's 18 different duos.

Recapping the 2023 Spring

RU finished its 2023 spring season with an 11-13 record. The campaign was highlighted by a 9-2 nonconference record, earning wins in the first four matches of the year.

Following a challenging conference slate that consisted of nine ranked opponents, Rutgers earned the No. 13 seed in the 14-team bracket in the 2023 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament.

The Scarlet Knights opened the tournament with a match against No. 12-seeded Michigan State, earning a 5-1 victory. The first round win marked the first Big Ten Tournament win for head coach Hilary Ritchie since she was elevated to the position in 2016.

The team's spring campaign ended in the tournament with a 4-1 loss to No. 5-seeded Northwestern.

New Kids 'On The Banks'

RU welcomed two new additions to the squad this offseason, graduate student Yana Gurevich and freshman Karki.

Gurevich spent four years at UC Davis before coming to join the Scarlet Knights. The Los Gatos, Calif. native announced her decision to finish her collegiate career 'On the Banks' in November 2022.

During her successful four-year career with her former team, Gurevich recorded a 44-30 singles record helping her to be named the Big West Player of the Week three times. She was also named to the All-Big West Conference Second Team Singles as a sophomore and junior.

Following a strong senior season where she finished with a 10-8 singles record playing exclusively at the top lineup spot, Gurevish was named to the All-Big West Conference First Team Singles and Doubles.

Karki began her Rutgers career after finding success at East Brunswick High School where she led her squad to the 2019 NJSIAA State Championship as well as GMC and Red Division titles.

As an individual, Karki recorded an impressive 24-2 during that season and was named the Heather O'Reilly Freshman of the Year as well as the GMC Fall Athlete of the Year by MyCentralJersey.com.

In 2021, Karki led her team to repeat as both GMC and Red Division champions. She also advanced to semifinals in doubles of G18 National Winter Championships.
Karki spent the 2022 summer training at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy in Villena, Spain.

Aye, Aye Captain(s)

Heading into the upcoming campaign, Ritchie has named Chloe Brown and Jackeline Lopez as the team's co-captains for the spring. Brown, a senior out of Johns Creek, Ga., will enter the season as captain for the second-straight year, while Lopez, a junior from Dunwoody, Ga., earned the distinction for the first time in her career.

Entering her fourth spring season with the Scarlet Knights, Brown has appeared in 39 total matches over the last three years. The senior competed in a career-high 18 matches in 2023, recording 10 total wins, six singles and four doubles. Following the campaign, Brown was named a 2023 ITA All-Academic Team Member and ITA Scholar Athlete.

Lopez has been a mainstay at the top of Rutgers' lineups throughout her first two seasons with the program. During the 2023 spring slate, the junior took the court in 23 matches, recording 16 wins, eight singles and eight doubles. All of her singles victories came at the No. 1 spot.

History Against UIC

The meeting between the Scarlet Knights and the Flames will be the first in the series between the programs.

History Against Northwestern

Rutgers has never beaten Northwestern, falling in each of the eight duals between the two teams.

History Against Illinois

The Scarlet Knights have not been able to top the Illini in each of the seven matchups in the lifetime series between programs.

Scouting the Flames

UIC is 3-7 through 10 competitions this spring, picking up wins over Bowling Green, Milwaukee, and Marquette.

Mayu Ushio leads the Flames with five singles wins in nine appearances. The junior out of Yamaguchi, Japan, came to UIC after two seasons at Miami (Ohio) where she went 17-15 in 2022-23 for the Red Hawks, spending most of her time at No. 6 singles.

Scouting the Wildcats

Northwestern has gotten off to a strong start to the dual campaign, playing to a 9-4 record through its nonconference slate. The Wildcats have played a strong field of teams, including six ranked opponents.

Justine Leong has been a mainstay at the No. 1 and 2 lineup spots for the Wildcats, picking up six wins in singles play. The junior is coming off a 2023 spring campaign where she earned 10 singles wins and 15 doubles victories en route to her All Big Ten Conference selection.

Scouting the Illini

Illinois has played to an 8-5 record heading into its B1G season. The Illini took on six ranked opponents in their nonconference slate, picking up a win over UCF, but dropping the other five of those duals.

McKenna Schaefbauer has recorded a team-high eight singles wins for the Illini. The sophomore is a perfect 4-0 at the No. 4 spot and has also added wins at the No. 3, 5, and 6 spots, as well.

Looking Ahead

The Scarlet Knights return to New Jersey for a pair of matches against Michigan (March 22) and Michigan State (March 24).

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