NEW HAVEN, CONN. – Junior Kat Muzik and freshman Tess Fisher concluded a strong showing for Rutgers tennis at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships, dropping a hard-fought semifinal bout in the doubles draw on Monday afternoon in Connecticut.
 
"Overall, Katarina and I were proud with how our ladies competed," said head coach Hilary Ritchie. "The ladies are starting to know that they belong amongst these teams that are Top 10 in the region. It also gives us a lot of stuff to focus on because we know even though we are doing well there are still areas to make improvements on. It gives us a good focus in practice leading up to our last fall competition and looking forward into the spring."
 
Muzik and Fisher advanced to the semifinals of the doubles draw as the only unseeded team to reach the round. The duo battled Syracuse's Sofya Golubovskaya and Sofya Treshcheva, falling in a tight 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) decision. It marked the highest finish for RU since former Scarlet Knights Mariam Zein and Gina Li also advanced to the semifinals of the doubles draw at the 2014 ITA Regionals.
 
"It felt really good to represent Rutgers in the doubles semifinals, especially being the only unseeded team left," said Muzik. "Everybody this weekend had one of our best overall results in singles and doubles. It was a good weekend and we are going to try and continue this into our final tournament of the fall at Buffalo."

"It was really exciting weekend," said Fisher. We all put in a lot of hard work and effort and a lot of work leading up to the tournament. I believe that helped greatly with our results. It was a great experience to represent RU in the semifinals and I am excited to keep playing."
 
Overall, Rutgers saw five Scarlet Knights advance to the round of 16, including one in singles and two pairs in the doubles draw. It marked the most for RU in recent years.
 
Junior Jaci Cochrane and freshman Kristiana Zahare also represented RU in the quarterfinals of doubles play, dropping a tight 8-7 (5) decision of their own to Boston University's Shelly Yaloz and Emily Kim on Sunday.
 
"To have two of our doubles teams make it to the quarterfinals was great," said Ritchie. "We have been playing more aggressively, showing a lot more movement at the net, and stepping up in the right moments. We have maintained our pace well."
 
Freshman Maya Jacobs won two singles matches to become one of just two unseeded players to advance to Sunday's round of 16. Jacobs dropped a tight 6-1, 0-6, 6-0 match to 17th-seeded Caroline Dunleavy of Yale.
 
Additionally, Rutgers had five Scarlet Knights qualify for the main singles draw, including freshmen Sydney Kaplan, Fisher, Jacobs, Muzik, and Zahare for one of its best showings at Regionals to date. 
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers concludes its fall campaign at the Buffalo Invitational set for Oct. 26-28.
 
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