The Rutgers women’s tennis team completed the first day of play at the ITA Regionals, held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Four members of the Scarlet Knights participated in the singles qualifying draw. Zuzanna Frankowska, Karina Jumazhanova, and Mai Nguyen have advanced directly to the main draw and are scheduled to play their opening matches on Friday.
Zeynep Ilker secured two straight-set victories to move into the second day of competition. Ilker defeated Leena Kuittinen from Long Island with scores of 6-2, 6-1, and then overcame Katsiaryna Kostsina from Fairleigh Dickinson 6-4, 6-2. She is set to face Yelena Kim of Fairleigh Dickinson in the Round of 16.
Naomi Karki won her first-round match against Kelly Dowuona of Saint Francis (PA) with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-4 but was eliminated in the Round of 32 by Varsha Deula from the University of Pennsylvania, who won 6-3, 6-3.
Savannah Cohen made her collegiate regionals debut with a win over Mia Palladino from Stony Brook, coming back for a 5-7, 6-3 (10) victory. Cohen lost her next match and will now prepare for doubles play beginning Friday.
Cindy Zhou was defeated by Lena Dogadalski from Lehigh in her first-round match.
The Scarlet Knights will continue their campaign on Friday at Hecht Tennis Center, starting with doubles at 9 a.m., followed by singles matches.
“Follow Rutgers women’s tennis on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.”
