Tennis Opens Fall Slate at Hall of Fame Invitational
Sep 14 | Women's Tennis
NEWPORT, R.I. — The Rutgers women's tennis team is set to open the fall 2023 campaign at the Hall of Fame Invitational in Newport, Rhode Island, from September 15-17.
The Scarlet Knights will face off in doubles teams against six other schools including Brown, George Washington, Georgetown, Dartmouth, Providence, and Rhode Island. The two doubles teams that will represent RU are Daira Cardenas and Arina Valitova, as well as Chloe Brown and Minchae Kim.
The tournament will begin play on Friday at 4 PM ET.
Recapping the 2023 Spring
The Scarlet Knights finished the 2023 spring season with an 11-13 record. The campaign was highlighted by a 9-2 nonconference record, earning wins in the first four matches of the year.
Following a challenging conference slate that consisted of nine ranked opponents, Rutgers earned the No. 13 seed in the 14-team bracket in the 2023 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament.
The Scarlet Knights opened the tournament with a match against No. 12-seeded Michigan State, earning a 5-1 victory. The first round win marked the first Big Ten Tournament win for head coach Hilary Ritchie since she was elevated to the position in 2016.
The team's spring campaign ended in the tournament with a 4-1 loss to No. 5-seeded Northwestern.
National Recognition
Following the 2022-23 campaign, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) named Amira Badawi the 2023 ITA Northeast Region Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award Recipient, making the transfer the second Scarlet Knight to receive the award.
Each year, the ITA Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship is given to a Division I women's tennis athlete who shows inspiring dedication and commitment to her team, which has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis. The honor dates back to 1997 and is in memory of the late and widely admired Penn women's tennis coach Cissie Leary.
New Kids 'On The Banks'
RU welcomed two new additions to the squad this offseason, graduate student Yana Gurevich and freshman Naomi Karki.
Gurevich spent four years at UC Davis before coming to join the Scarlet Knights. The Los Gatos, Calif. native announced her decision to finish her collegiate career 'On the Banks' in November 2022.
During her successful four-year career with her former team, Gurevich recorded a 44-30 singles record helping her to be named the Big West Player of the Week three times. She was also named to the All-Big West Conference Second Team Singles as a sophomore and junior.
Following a strong senior season where she finished with a 10-8 singles record playing exclusively at the top lineup spot, Gurevish was named to the All-Big West Conference First Team Singles and Doubles.
Karki begins her Rutgers career after finding success at East Brunswick High School where she led her squad to the 2019 NJSIAA State Championship as well as GMC and Red Division titles.
As an individual, Karki recorded an impressive 24-2 during that season and was named the Heather O'Reilly Freshman of the Year as well as the GMC Fall Athlete of the Year by MyCentralJersey.com.
In 2021, Karki led her team to repeat as both GMC and Red Division champions. She also advanced to semifinals in doubles of G18 National Winter Championships.
Karki spent the 2022 summer training at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy in Villena, Spain.
Looking Ahead at the Fall
The Scarlet Knights are slated to participate in four additional tournaments this fall following this weekend.
Rutgers is set to compete in the Yale Invitational (Sept. 22-24), ITA Regionals (Oct. 6-8), the Princeton Invitational (Oct. 13-15), and the Big Green Tournament (Nov. 3-5).
The Scarlet Knights will face off in doubles teams against six other schools including Brown, George Washington, Georgetown, Dartmouth, Providence, and Rhode Island. The two doubles teams that will represent RU are Daira Cardenas and Arina Valitova, as well as Chloe Brown and Minchae Kim.
The tournament will begin play on Friday at 4 PM ET.
Recapping the 2023 Spring
The Scarlet Knights finished the 2023 spring season with an 11-13 record. The campaign was highlighted by a 9-2 nonconference record, earning wins in the first four matches of the year.
Following a challenging conference slate that consisted of nine ranked opponents, Rutgers earned the No. 13 seed in the 14-team bracket in the 2023 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament.
The Scarlet Knights opened the tournament with a match against No. 12-seeded Michigan State, earning a 5-1 victory. The first round win marked the first Big Ten Tournament win for head coach Hilary Ritchie since she was elevated to the position in 2016.
The team's spring campaign ended in the tournament with a 4-1 loss to No. 5-seeded Northwestern.
National Recognition
Following the 2022-23 campaign, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) named Amira Badawi the 2023 ITA Northeast Region Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award Recipient, making the transfer the second Scarlet Knight to receive the award.
Each year, the ITA Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship is given to a Division I women's tennis athlete who shows inspiring dedication and commitment to her team, which has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis. The honor dates back to 1997 and is in memory of the late and widely admired Penn women's tennis coach Cissie Leary.
New Kids 'On The Banks'
RU welcomed two new additions to the squad this offseason, graduate student Yana Gurevich and freshman Naomi Karki.
Gurevich spent four years at UC Davis before coming to join the Scarlet Knights. The Los Gatos, Calif. native announced her decision to finish her collegiate career 'On the Banks' in November 2022.
During her successful four-year career with her former team, Gurevich recorded a 44-30 singles record helping her to be named the Big West Player of the Week three times. She was also named to the All-Big West Conference Second Team Singles as a sophomore and junior.
Following a strong senior season where she finished with a 10-8 singles record playing exclusively at the top lineup spot, Gurevish was named to the All-Big West Conference First Team Singles and Doubles.
Karki begins her Rutgers career after finding success at East Brunswick High School where she led her squad to the 2019 NJSIAA State Championship as well as GMC and Red Division titles.
As an individual, Karki recorded an impressive 24-2 during that season and was named the Heather O'Reilly Freshman of the Year as well as the GMC Fall Athlete of the Year by MyCentralJersey.com.
In 2021, Karki led her team to repeat as both GMC and Red Division champions. She also advanced to semifinals in doubles of G18 National Winter Championships.
Karki spent the 2022 summer training at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy in Villena, Spain.
Looking Ahead at the Fall
The Scarlet Knights are slated to participate in four additional tournaments this fall following this weekend.
Rutgers is set to compete in the Yale Invitational (Sept. 22-24), ITA Regionals (Oct. 6-8), the Princeton Invitational (Oct. 13-15), and the Big Green Tournament (Nov. 3-5).
The fall is here and so is Rutgers Tennis ❗️🍂🎾
— Rutgers Tennis (@RutgersTennis) September 5, 2023
📰: https://t.co/dItjybFePg#GoRU | #RTennis pic.twitter.com/Q6sngulQmS
Players Mentioned
/ 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
