PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Rutgers women's tennis team is set to compete at ITA Regionals from Oct. 9-14. The six-day tournament will be hosted by the University of Pennsylvania at the Hecht Tennis Center. The Scarlet Knights will bring all nine student-athletes to the tournament in hopes of qualifying for ITA Sectional Championships.
RU is looking to continue building off of last year's success at ITA Regionals. The doubles pair
Naomi Karki and
Cindy Zhou made the quarterfinals, finishing in the top eight. Another Rutgers duo also made it to the Round of 16 doubles,
Zuzanna Frankowska and recent graduate Jackie Lopez.
Qualifying will start at 9 a.m. on Thursday, October 8th, and the main draw singles and doubles will start on Friday.
Last Time Out
The Scarlet Knights competed at the UNC Charlotte Invite in Charlotte, N.C., from October 3-5. RU played host school UNC Charlotte, as well as Virginia Tech.
Rutgers collected 14 wins on the weekend, including five singles and nine doubles victories. Duo
Mai Nguyen and
Naomi Karki remained undefeated at the invite.
Regional Recognition
On top of the three regional rankings, the ITA also honored
Mai Nguyen as the "Most Improved Player" in the Northeast.
Ahead of the spring 2025 season, transfer student
Zuzanna Frankowska was named to the Big Ten Women's Tennis Players to Watch list. This honor is limited to one representative of each program in the conference.
New Kids on the Banks
In the offseason, head coach
Hilary Ritchie welcomed three newcomers to the team, including freshmen
Miranda Case,
Savannah Cohen, and
Stella Schmitz.
Case hails from Haddonfield, New Jersey, and attended Haddonfield Memorial High School. Previous career highlights include 2022 L5 Open G16s doubles Champion and 2022 L4 Closed G16s doubles Finalist. Her history with Rutgers goes back to 1997, as her mother, Kristin, played tennis for the Knights till 2001.
Cohen comes from Westfield, New Jersey, and attended Westfield High School. She earned a 40-10 record in her two years of high school tennis. She won the Union County singles tournament as a sophomore and was named to the NJSIAA All Group-IV First Team and All-State Third Team. Last spring, Cohen finished second at a Level 2 National USTA tournament, garnering a 5-star status from Tennis Recruiting, as well as a national rank of 47 in the class of 2025.
Schmitz calls Kaiserslautern, Germany, home and attended Kaiserslautern High School. She is a four-time state champion and has earned multiple high finishes in ITF singles and doubles competition, along with a top-10 national German ranking. Her father, Frank, was a German professional tennis player on the ATP tour for 10 years.
The team is changing beyond new members, too. Assistant coach
Noah Lilienthal has taken on a bigger role this season, and he and Ritchie are already collaborating on some team-wide goals.
The Returners
Rutgers also brings back a strong core, including key returners such as
Zuzanna Frankowska,
Zeynep Ilker, and
Karina Jumazhanova.
Last season, Frankowska earned an overall singles record of 16-13 and a tournament record of 10-3. She also achieved a doubles record of 6-4 in the fall. Ilker ended spring 2025 with an overall record of 13-8 and an 8-3 fall record. Jumazhanova finished last season with a 12-10 overall singles record and a 5-7 singles dual record.
Naomi Karki will continue to be in the lineup for the Scarlet Knights after finishing her sophomore campaign with an overall doubles record of 16-14, along with 10-8 dual and 6-6 tour doubles records. Similarly,
Mai Nguyen will be returning after ending her junior campaign with an overall doubles record of 15-13 and a 10-8 dual doubles record.
Looking Ahead
Rutgers will have a break after ITA Regionals, playing in the Big Green Invitational in Hanover, N.H., from Nov. 7-11.
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