By Jim Hague
One of the greatest female tennis players in Rutgers-Newark history almost never played the sport in college.
Nicole Rubinetti was a two-sport athlete at West Orange High School, but in her mind, she was more of a softball player who just happened to play tennis.
So when it came time for Rubinetti to begin her college career, tennis was not even a thought.
“Coming into college, I wasn’t even going to play tennis,” said Rubinetti, currently a junior on the R-N women’s tennis team. “I wasn’t expecting to play tennis. I was more of a softball player in high school and I thought that if I played a sport in college, it was going to be softball. I just played tennis for fun.”
But Kevin Morris, the Rutgers-Newark women’s tennis coach who also doubles as the women’s basketball coach at the school, saw Rubinetti play in the NJSIAA state singles tournament in Mercer County Park in West Windsor when Rubinetti was a senior at West Orange.
Morris, who was trying to develop a tennis program with the Scarlet Raiders, liked what he saw from Rubinetti at that state tournament.
“I liked her game right away,” Morris said. “She won a round or two at Mercer County Park and I just thought she would be a good fit for us. If we wanted to have a good program, we needed to recruit good players. I knew Nicole came from a solid high school program that was used to winning and expected to win. I knew that was good. You need that in a program.”
So Morris pursued Rubinetti and he encouraged her to give playing tennis a try at Rutgers-Newark.
“I wasn’t even thinking of going to Rutgers until Coach Morris came to see me play,” Rubinetti said. “But I visited the school and I really liked it. I also thought that if I didn’t play something in college, I would miss it. So I gave it a shot.”
It turned out to be a brilliant move, both for Rubinetti and for the women’s tennis program at R-N.
Rubinetti has developed into one of the most successful tennis players in the school’s history. Only a junior, she has already entrenched herself in the Scarlet Raider record book by collecting more than 50 total wins in her three years. She has played at all levels, starting off as the No. 4 singles player, then moving up to No. 2 singles as a sophomore and finally No. 1 singles as a junior. Rubinetti has also been a force playing doubles as well.
As a freshman, Rubinetti posted a 14-2 record in singles and was 8-2 in doubles, playing as a the fourth singles. As a sophomore, Rubinetti was 10-8 in singles, moving up to No. 2 singles and was 8-7 in doubles.
This season, Rubinetti has enjoyed an 8-5 record as the Scarlet Raiders’ No. 1 singles player and owns an 8-4 record in doubles, playing most of the time with fellow standout Monica Iturralde.
“My game has definitely matured,” Rubinetti said. “I play with better strategy now. Coach Morris has confidence in me so that helps. I know I don’t have the power that other girls have. I don’t have a very hard shot. But I can run and make the shots. That’s part of the strategy and it seems to be working.”
Morris said that Rubinetti has a certain skill he had never seen before.
“Nicole can hit the ball wherever she wants to,” Morris said. “She has incredible accuracy with her shot. She makes you go corner to corner. In fact, she’s the most accurate player I’ve ever hit with.”
Morris is happy with the way Rubinetti has developed.
“She’s playing the best tennis of her life right now,” Morris said. “Nicole and Fergie-Ross Montero have been the lynchpins of this program. They’re the ones who turned us around and actually made us winners. They’re the cornerstones. When you look at her record, she’s won 50 times for us in three years, playing all different singles and doubles. She’s really been a key to our success.”
Morris also likes Rubinetti’s intensity.
“She’s a lot easier to get along with when she wins,” Morris said. “In that respect, she’s a lot like me. She struggled a little last year, but then came back this year and has been outstanding in moving to first singles. To have the record she has, no question she’s improved as a player. Her conditioning is better, because she gets to more balls now. She’s also facing the other team’s best player and more than competing.”
Last Friday, at the New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW) championships at Drew University, Rubinetti defeated Krysten Chen of St. Peter’s College, 8-6, to advance to the second round. Rubinetti was the lone Division III player to topple a competitor from a Division I school in the tournament.
“It really looked like she belonged,” Morris said. “She expects to win. It doesn’t matter who’s on the court.”
“It really is amazing,” Rubinetti said. “Every match, all I think about is winning and helping the team. I don’t keep up with my win total or records or stats. It’s just about winning and helping the team. It really seems that we’ve been able to take the program to a whole new level and I’m proud of that. People don’t expect to simply beat Rutgers-Newark anymore.”
Her consistent play is getting recognized, as Rubinetti was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week two weeks ago.
“That was really flattering,” Rubinetti said. “I didn’t even know it happened. My father saw it on the website and he called me. I’m just happy someone recognized me. I never expected any of this. It’s been a lot of fun”
Rubinetti is an English major at Rutgers-Newark and she plans on becoming a high school English teacher after graduation, preferably at an urban high school.
“I just think being an English teacher leaves more room to have an impact on students,” Rubinetti said. “You can cover a lot more topics than being a math or science teacher, where you’re somewhat limited. Being an English major gives me that opportunity.”
In her spare time, Rubinetti said that she likes to read and she is an avid writer as well.
“After reading something, I tend to write something and analyze what I’ve read,” Rubinetti said. “I’m becoming more versed.”
She’s currently studying poetry and the works of Richard Wright. Seems as if Nicole Rubinetti is becoming as versatile in the classroom as she is on the tennis court.
And it’s very apparent that she made the right choice in playing tennis at Rutgers-Newark.
