Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
Tennis 2019 Spring Season Preview
Jan 21 | Women's Tennis
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers tennis is set to embark on its 2019 Spring season this Friday with a home match against Delaware. The Scarlet Knights look to build on momentum from an impressive Fall campaign.
This year's young squad returns juniors Jaci Cochrane, Kat Muzik, and Kyra Yap, and sophomores Isabelle Da Silva and Maya Jacobs. Additionally, RU welcomes freshmen Tess Fisher, Sydney Kaplan, and Kristiana Zahare to the roster. Third-year Head Coach Hilary Ritchie is most excited for the possibilities of a young team.
"I get excited for every season, but I'm really excited for this year because when you have a young team anything can happen," said Ritchie. "Since a young team is fearless, we can achieve anything. I feel that each match is an opportunity with this group."
LEADERSHIP AND TEAM CAPTAINS
With no seniors on the squad, the leadership of the program's captains will be relied on. The team elected Cochrane and Jacobs to captain the team this season.
"The team selected two great student-athletes as captains," said Ritchie. "They are both strong in terms of how with how they lead on court, how they lead verbally, and their sense of spirit is really strong too."
With a small team, the captains will bring vital experience to the leadership, while underclassmen can still add in fresh encouragement on match day.
"What is neat about a small team. You will have freshmen in the lineup that end up leading just as much as a junior. You have captains that have experience and will motivate. It is also awesome to see how a freshman can step up and lead in their own way."
FALL CAMPAIGN
Rutgers' Fall campaign was highlighted by its performance at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships. Five Scarlet Knights advanced to the quarterfinals, the most for the program in recent years, including two pairs in doubles and an individual in singles.
In doubles action, the duo of Cochrane and Zahare and pair of Muzik and Fisher cruised to the quarterfinals. Muzik and Fisher would lead the group with an appearance in the semi-finals. Jacobs led the unit in singles play with three singles victories to glide to the quarterfinals.
Overall, Rutgers as a team collected a 21 doubles victories across the four fall tournaments. Muzik and Fisher led the way with nine doubles wins, while Cochrane and Zahare followed with five.
"With the way we played our doubles in the fall, I am very optimistic that we will continue that and earn a lot more critical doubles points. Not only will capturing the doubles point help in terms of starting the match off 1-0, but that momentum and morale going into singles is completely different."
Singles action saw success as well with Jacobs and Muzik leading the returners with nine and eight victories, respectively. Muzik collected a singles title at the Navy and Gold Invitational, along with Cochrane claiming her respective singles title at the invite as well.
The newcomers made strong statements in their debuts for the Scarlet Knights too, as Kaplan (8-3) and Zahare (7-2) boasted the teams' best win-loss records in singles.
"Our freshmen are fantastic. I think that they are fearless and very talented. This fall is just a taste of what we will see from them in the spring."
SCHEDULE
The 2019 campaign features 10 nonconference dual matches and the 11-match Big Ten slate. The match against Delaware kicks off the year, as well as the nine-match home slate. To conquer the schedule ahead, the Scarlet Knights will focus on taking each match week by week.
"We are trying to explain that every week we are going to build. There is a goal at the end of every week. We are not looking towards May. We are not looking towards conference. We are looking week by week to our opponents."
The Scarlet Knights welcome Big Ten foes Penn State (Feb. 1), Minnesota (March 15), Wisconsin (March 17), Northwestern (March 27), Michigan (April 13) and Michigan State (April 14). RU travels to conference opponents Iowa (April 5), Nebraska (April 7), Indiana (April 20) and Purdue (April 21).
The full schedule release can be found here.
OUTLOOK
With the fresh talent of the contingent and added confidence from the fall, the group is ready to kick off the year. The key to success will be the focus in training day-by-day for continuous growth week-by-week. Additionally, the emphasis on bringing the best against each opponent to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.
"Each and every match is building and is also opportunity. If you do what you are supposed to do and train the way you are supposed to train, then you get the great opportunity to compete. It doesn't matter who you are competing against, you are just competing on the tennis court and have to bring your best game."
The season begins Friday at the East Brunswick Racquet Club with a match against Delaware. Start time is set for 12:30 p.m. ET.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (Rutgers Athletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers women's tennis, follow the program on Facebook (RutgersTennis), Twitter and Instagram (@RutgersTennis). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.
This year's young squad returns juniors Jaci Cochrane, Kat Muzik, and Kyra Yap, and sophomores Isabelle Da Silva and Maya Jacobs. Additionally, RU welcomes freshmen Tess Fisher, Sydney Kaplan, and Kristiana Zahare to the roster. Third-year Head Coach Hilary Ritchie is most excited for the possibilities of a young team.
"I get excited for every season, but I'm really excited for this year because when you have a young team anything can happen," said Ritchie. "Since a young team is fearless, we can achieve anything. I feel that each match is an opportunity with this group."
LEADERSHIP AND TEAM CAPTAINS
With no seniors on the squad, the leadership of the program's captains will be relied on. The team elected Cochrane and Jacobs to captain the team this season.
"The team selected two great student-athletes as captains," said Ritchie. "They are both strong in terms of how with how they lead on court, how they lead verbally, and their sense of spirit is really strong too."
With a small team, the captains will bring vital experience to the leadership, while underclassmen can still add in fresh encouragement on match day.
"What is neat about a small team. You will have freshmen in the lineup that end up leading just as much as a junior. You have captains that have experience and will motivate. It is also awesome to see how a freshman can step up and lead in their own way."
FALL CAMPAIGN
Rutgers' Fall campaign was highlighted by its performance at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships. Five Scarlet Knights advanced to the quarterfinals, the most for the program in recent years, including two pairs in doubles and an individual in singles.
In doubles action, the duo of Cochrane and Zahare and pair of Muzik and Fisher cruised to the quarterfinals. Muzik and Fisher would lead the group with an appearance in the semi-finals. Jacobs led the unit in singles play with three singles victories to glide to the quarterfinals.
Overall, Rutgers as a team collected a 21 doubles victories across the four fall tournaments. Muzik and Fisher led the way with nine doubles wins, while Cochrane and Zahare followed with five.
"With the way we played our doubles in the fall, I am very optimistic that we will continue that and earn a lot more critical doubles points. Not only will capturing the doubles point help in terms of starting the match off 1-0, but that momentum and morale going into singles is completely different."
Singles action saw success as well with Jacobs and Muzik leading the returners with nine and eight victories, respectively. Muzik collected a singles title at the Navy and Gold Invitational, along with Cochrane claiming her respective singles title at the invite as well.
The newcomers made strong statements in their debuts for the Scarlet Knights too, as Kaplan (8-3) and Zahare (7-2) boasted the teams' best win-loss records in singles.
"Our freshmen are fantastic. I think that they are fearless and very talented. This fall is just a taste of what we will see from them in the spring."
SCHEDULE
The 2019 campaign features 10 nonconference dual matches and the 11-match Big Ten slate. The match against Delaware kicks off the year, as well as the nine-match home slate. To conquer the schedule ahead, the Scarlet Knights will focus on taking each match week by week.
"We are trying to explain that every week we are going to build. There is a goal at the end of every week. We are not looking towards May. We are not looking towards conference. We are looking week by week to our opponents."
The Scarlet Knights welcome Big Ten foes Penn State (Feb. 1), Minnesota (March 15), Wisconsin (March 17), Northwestern (March 27), Michigan (April 13) and Michigan State (April 14). RU travels to conference opponents Iowa (April 5), Nebraska (April 7), Indiana (April 20) and Purdue (April 21).
The full schedule release can be found here.
OUTLOOK
With the fresh talent of the contingent and added confidence from the fall, the group is ready to kick off the year. The key to success will be the focus in training day-by-day for continuous growth week-by-week. Additionally, the emphasis on bringing the best against each opponent to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.
"Each and every match is building and is also opportunity. If you do what you are supposed to do and train the way you are supposed to train, then you get the great opportunity to compete. It doesn't matter who you are competing against, you are just competing on the tennis court and have to bring your best game."
The season begins Friday at the East Brunswick Racquet Club with a match against Delaware. Start time is set for 12:30 p.m. ET.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (Rutgers Athletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers women's tennis, follow the program on Facebook (RutgersTennis), Twitter and Instagram (@RutgersTennis). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.
- RU -
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Rutgers Athletics Launches the Athletic Excellence Fund
Monday, October 06
R Fund, Knights of the Raritan are YouKnighted | Million Dollar Match
Friday, February 28
Rutgers x Nike Apparel Partnership
Thursday, December 19
Tennis New Facilities Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Wednesday, November 08
