Box Score
NEWARK, N.J. (April 22, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's tennis team is headed back to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament! The Scarlet Raiders topped conference rival Rutgers University-Camden by a score of 8-1 Saturday afternoon.
"This was our goal from the start of the season," said Head Coach
Tom Battaglia. "When we lost against Ramapo earlier in the year, I told the guys everything we would do from that point would be to get another shot at them. Today, everyone came laser-focused and it showed in their play, and even when it rained we were able to pick up right where we left off."
Rutgers-Newark improves to 2-1 in the conference and 8-5 overall, while Camden drops to 1-2 in the league and 4-6 overall.
The match began on The Golden Dome Courts but was moved indoors to Center Court in Florham Park because of rain.
Rutgers-Newark jumped in front 2-1 after doubles play, and the Raiders nearly took all three matches. Juniors
Brandon Davis and
Ray Fan rolled 8-2 out of the No. 1 slot, and sophomore
Richard Nguyen and junior
Nadeem Hilal took their match at No. 3 by the same score. The pairing of senior
Parth Shah and junior
Kevin Martin nearly stole a win out of the second slot, but the duo was edged 9-7.
The Scarlet Raiders dominated singles action and it started with Davis at No. 1. The junior won 6-1, 6-3 to finish a sparkling week and kept his outstanding spring going. Fan won 7-6 (7-5) to go up 1-0 and dominated the second set, 6-0, while Shah took his match at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-1. Hilal took care of business 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4, and Nguyen cruised 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5. Senior
Joe Codomo put the finishing touches on a 6-0 singles mark on the day, earning a 7-5, 6-1 triumph.
Rutgers-Newark reached the GNAC semis in 2015, but missed the tournament last year. The team will look to de-throne the defending champs Ramapo College on Saturday in Mahwah at a time to be determined.
What's next? Rutgers-Newark will visit the College of Staten Island Monday in its final tune-up before the postseason.
Notes:
-Rutgers-Newark surpassed its 2016 win total Saturday
-The eight wins are the most the team has had since prior to 2008
-Rutgers-Newark made the GNAC Tournament in 2014 and 2015, falling to Ramapo both times in the semifinals
