Tennis Defeats Penn State to Move to 2-0 on Season

Friday, February 1

East Brunswick, N.J.

12:30 PM

Rutgers

Penn State

Box Score

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

Tennis Defeats Penn State to Move to 2-0 on Season

Feb 01 | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score RVision Highlights

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers tennis claimed a 4-3 victory over Penn State on Friday afternoon at the East Brunswick Racquet Club. The Scarlet Knights claimed four singles matchups to top the Nittany Lions.

RU improved to 2-0 on the season, while PSU suffered its first loss of the year to fall to 4-1.

"Today was a great win for us," said Head Coach Hilary Ritchie. "We knew Penn State coming in was going to be extremely tough. The win is a testament to how hard each person on this team has been working. The fact that we had some people come-from-behind and clinch points for us is huge. I hope that we can continue the momentum."

DOUBLES PLAY
Rutgers and Penn State battled through a tight doubles competition. In the No. 1 spot, the pair of junior Kat Muzik and freshman Tess Fisher rallied from behind to cut an early deficit to 5-4. Despite the comeback, PSU's Gabby O'Gorman and Olivia Rohrbacher claimed the next game to take the win, 6-4.

It would then become a race for the next win to determine which way the doubles point would sway. At the No. 2 spot, the duo junior Jaci Cochrane and sophomore Maya Jacobs trailed, 5-4, to the Nittany Lions Frederikke Svarre and Chelsea Sawyer. While, at the No. 3 spot, freshmen Sydney Kaplan and Kristiana Zahare had come-from-behind to take a 5-4 lead over Shannon Hanley and Samantha Smith of PSU.

Penn State would go on to collect the team doubles point after edging out the win at the No. 2 position.

SINGLES PLAY
Jacobs opened up singles play with a victory at the No. 1 spot for RU, topping PSU's O'Gorman by a score of 6-1, 6-4 to tie the match, 1-1.

The Nittany Lions responded with wins at the No. 5 and No. 4 singles spots to move back in front, 3-1.

After splitting the first two sets (1-6, 7-5), Muzik moved to a 3-0 lead in the third. PSU's Sawyer, however, retired the match due to injury. This would bring the Scarlet Knights within one, 3-2, in the contest.

Despite dropping the first set, 6-4, Fisher rallied a 6-2 victory over Rohrbacher in the second to force the deciding set. She would seal the victory with 6-3 score in the third to tie the match between RU and PSU at 3-3.

At the No. 6 singles spot, Zahare started off her matchup with a 6-4 win in the first set before Hanley took the second 6-1. Zahare never let up in the third match, using a 6-2 victory to clinch the match win for RU.

UP NEXT
Rutgers travels to Army for its first road match of the season on Friday, Feb. 8.

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.

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