Tennis Begins Fall Slate at Brown Invitational
Sep 22 | Women's Tennis
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - With four newcomers and new head coach, Rutgers tennis begins its fall campaign Friday at the Brown Invitational in Providence, Rhode Island. The Scarlet Knights will see host Brown, Stony Brook and UMass during the three-day tournament, which runs through Sunday at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Hilary Ritchie makes her debut as the program's head coach Friday at 11 a.m. EST. RU also competes Saturday at 10 a.m. EST and concludes the invitational Sunday at 9 a.m. EST.
Related: Ritchie Named Tennis Head Coach
Rutgers returns four letterwinners from last year's roster that went 6-15 during the 2016 dual season. Senior Farris Cunningham impressed at last year's Brown Invitational, where she finished second in the Black Draw. The Houston, Texas, native delivered a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory against Arielle Griffin of UMass in the first round and a 7-6, 6-1 win against Iris Lin of Boston University to advance to the final.
Junior Mingxiu Du and rookies Jacqueline Cochrane, Katherine Muzik and Kyra Yap will all make their Division I collegiate debuts during weekend play.
Related: Tennis Announces 2016 Additions
After the Brown Invitational, the Scarlet Knights return to action Oct. 7-9 at the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Maryland.
SCOUTING BROWN
The Bears finished 15-10 during the 2016 dual campaign, which included a 9-3 home record and a team-high ranking of No. 52 by the ITA. Alyza Benotto enters the season No. 116 in the 2016 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Division I preseason rankings after she collected a 24-8 singles record last spring.
At last year's Brown Invitational, the Bear's saw a back draw victory from Dayna Lord after she defeated Ana Tyazusta of UMass, 6-1, 7-6, in the championship.
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
The Seawolves, who went 10-7 during the 2016 dual season, started its fall schedule Sept. 9-11 when they hosted the 11th annual Stony Brook Classic.
Elizabeth Tsvetkov advanced to the 'A' singles final before she fell, 6-3, 6-1, to St. John's Jessica Livianu. Tsvetkov paired with Yana Nikolaeva to capture the 'A' doubles final, 6-4, in an upset over Navy's Amanda Keller and Carlee Conway during their home tournament.
SCOUTING UMASS
The Minutewomen went 14-7 during last year's dual season, winning nine of their last 10 matches of the spring campaign. Ruth Crawford returns for her sophomore season after leading the program with 14 dual victories as a rookie, while Crawford and Anna Woosley produced a 15-4 record in doubles.
At last year's Brown Invitational, Crawford captured the consolation bracket of her singles draw with a win over Stony Brook's Nadia Smergut, 6-2, 7-6. Carol Benito and Ana Yrazusta advanced to the championship match of 'A'
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