BUFFALO, N.Y. – Rutgers tennis concluded its fall campaign with a solid finish at the UB Fall Invite on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights claimed four of seven singles and two of four doubles against opponents from host Buffalo.
 
"I'm happy with the progress the team made this fall," said head coach Hilary Ritchie. "Today was a big challenge, playing a team that beat us last year and was the MAC champions. We showed real grit and need to keep building."
 
In doubles action, the duo of junior Jaci Cochrane and sophomore Maya Jacobs secured a hard fought 7-6 (4-0) victory over UB's Ariana Paules Aldrey and Pia Schwarz. The freshman pair of Kristiana Zahare and Sydney Kaplan recorded a 6-2 victory over Mercedes Losada Rubio and Gabriella Kivovich.
 
"Doubles was huge today, Maya and I were able to win a tight doubles clinch that gave us a lot of momentum going into singles," said Cochrane.
 
Zahare led the way in singles play with a commanding 6-2,6-2 win over Losado Rubio. Cochrane added in a strong 6-3, 7-5 win over Sanjana Sudhir.
 
Meanwhile, junior Kat Muzik and Jacobs showed resilience in their singles matches. Muzik battled from 7-6 (2) loss to Emel Abibula in the first set before taking the win with marks of 6-3 and 6-0 in the following sets.
 
Similarly, Jacobs dropped her first set, 6-4, to Chantal Martinez Blanco before rallying to a 7-5 margin in the next and a 6-4 win in the deciding set.
 
"I think that the results from this weekend are telling of all the hard work that we've put in this fall," said Jacobs. "In my singles match, I lost the first set, but because we've been working so hard and pushing ourselves further, I was able to stick it out and compete really hard to get the win. Our team has made great strides and improvements this year in competitions and we will continue this trend into the spring."
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers returns to action for its 2019 Spring slate, beginning with Delaware on Friday, Jan. 25 at the East Brunswick Racquet Club. The full schedule can be found here. 
 
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