NEWARK, N.J. (October 13, 2018) -  The Rutgers University-Newark women's tennis team picked up its first win of the season this afternoon against visiting non-conference foe SUNY-Delhi on The Golden Dome Courts, 6-3. The Scarlet Raiders improve to 1-8 while the Broncos fall to 2-10.

R-N dropped its first point when the second doubles team lost but the squad quickly rebounded. Junior Nell Karpinski and senior Bryanna Thaxton won a thrilling 9-7 battle at no. 1 before freshman Emely Conza and senior Melissa Carina Saenz defeated their opponents 8-6 at the third position to build a 2-1 edge for the hosts after doubles play.

In singles action, rookie Natalie Hernandez added to the Raiders' lead with a 7-5, 6-4 victory at no. 6. Karpinski made it two wins on the day when she cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 decision at no. 1 while Conza also doubled her win total, and clinched the match, with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 showing.

Newark's sixth point came on another marathon contest between Thaxton and Katie Mach at the second singles position. Thaxton dropped the first set 6-4 before blanking Mach 6-0 and then taking a supertiebreaker 10-5 in the third set.

"After coming close in multiple matches, breaking into the win column today was a great feeling for the team." said Head Coach Andres Bustani, "Everyone competed really well and we had the determination to go out and win some big matches. We are definitely going to enjoy the victory today but will move on tomorrow so can work on carrying this positive momentum through the end of the season."

The Scarlet Raiders return to New Jersey Athletic Conference play on Wednesday when they head to Stockton for a 4:30 p.m. contest.