Rutgers University
Bucknell
Tennis to Open 2023 Spring Against Bucknell and Binghamton
Jan 20 | Women's Tennis
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers women's tennis team will open the 2023 spring season against Bucknell on Jan. 21 (4 p.m.) and Binghamton on Jan. 22 (3 p.m.). The match, as well as all the indoor matches for the Scarlet Knights this season, will be played at the East Brunswick Racquet Club.
Fall 2022 Recap
Rutgers competed in four tournaments this fall – the Bulldog Invitational, ITA Regionals, Princeton Invitational and the Big Green Invitational.
Jackeline Lopez led the team with nine singles wins including four consecutive victories to start the season. She went on another big five-match swing toward the end of the fall, as well. Lopez only dropped three matches during the campaign.
Amira Badawi also had a strong fall, going 8-3 in singles play. She won her last four matches of the season and went 8-2 in her last 10 outings.
The newcomer pair of Mai Nguyen and Tara Chilton topped the doubles statistics with an 8-3 record, going 6-1 together to start the season. The duo of Chloe Brown and Badawi also showed out with an undefeated 4-0 mark. Nguyen led the team with a 9-3 overall doubles record.
Transferring In
RU welcomed two transfers this offseason in Amira Badawi (NJIT) and Tara Chilton (Washington).
Badawi, a native of Cairo, Egypt, compiled a 30-7 record with NJIT over two seasons, including an impressive 22-5 mark playing in the top three singles spots for the Highlanders in 2021-22, a season that ended with a second place showing in the Southland Conference Tournament.
In her two seasons at Washington, Chilton compiled an 18-18 singles and 17-14 doubles record. Last year as a sophomore, Chilton and the No. 37 Huskies played to a 14-12 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. She went 7-2 in singles tournament play including reaching the round of 32 at ITA Northwest Regional.
Freshmen Duo
Rutgers also welcomed two freshmen to the squad, Mai Nguyen and Arina Valitova.
Ranked top 75 nationally, Nguyen arrives "On The Banks" from Atlanta, Georgia. She was the 2019 Southern Doubles Champions and finished in fifth in National Doubles. She was also the 2020 Georgia State Champion and 2021 Winter Southerns Champions.
A product of Bratislava, Slovakia, Valitova comes to the US after finding success in the European Junior circuit. She won the ITF Juniors tournaments and Tennis Europe tournaments in both singles and doubles. Valitova also won the singles J5 in Islamabad in Nov. 2020 in addition to the singles J5 in Harare in Dec. 2020. In doubles, she came out on top in the J3 in Harare in Nov. 2021 and J4 in Estonia in May 2021. She is also a member of Russian National Beach Tennis Team (U18) and won the Juniors European Championship in doubles.
Scouting Bucknell
Bucknell is 2-1 in dual matches. The team earned wins over Davenport and Grand Valley State while dropping a decision to Ferris State in October.
Whitney King leads the team with a 2-0 record in singles play. Anna Lajos also had a strong showing in the first three matches with a 2-1 mark. In doubles, the pairs of King and Abby Platt as well as Lajos and Tyne Miller are a perfect 2-0.
Scouting Binghamton
Binghamton is 0-3 in dual play, falling to Le Moyne, Saint Francis and Buffalo in October. The Bearcats will face Brown on Saturday, Jan. 22 before traveling to Rutgers on Sunday.
Natalia Aruj paces the team with a 2-1 mark at the top lineup spot. Aruj and Lara Kaplan are undefeated at 2-0 on the first court in doubles.
Looking Ahead
Rutgers will host Drexel on Friday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m. to complete its three-match homestand.
Players Mentioned
