COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Maryland women's tennis team (6-7, 0-2 B1G) will travel to Rutgers for the third and final match of its three-match road trip on Saturday. The Terps and Scarlet Knights will begin play at the East Brunswick Racquet Club at 1 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Maryland dropped its first two matches of its conference schedule last weekend, falling to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Millie Stretton led the way for the Terrapins, posting a 4-0 record on the weekend between doubles and singles play. Maryland's top doubles duo of Stretton and Eva Alexandrova improved their win total to nine after their pair of wins in the two matches, good for most on the Terrapin roster.
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Rutgers enters the weekend with a 5-6 record, including an 0-2 record in Big Ten play after losing to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Scarlet Knights began their season 4-0, before losing six of their last seven matches with the lone win coming against Georgia Southern.
Sophomore Jaci Cochrane leads Rutgers with six singles wins in dual matches this season. Mingxiu Du and Kat Muzik have led the way in doubles play, recording six wins as a pair. Cochrane and Maya Jacobs follow with five wins on the season.
DOUBLES DOMINANCE
Maryland has dominated in doubles action this spring, winning the doubles point in nine of their 13 matches this season. The Terps top doubles pairing of Eva Alexandrova and Millie Stretton have had a solid start to the year, posting a 9-2 record in the No. 1 doubles position.
Arnelle Sullivan and Saya Usui have also impressed, earning a 5-3 record that includes a 6-0 victory in Maryland's win over Marshall.
NO STOPPING STRETTON
Kansas State transfer Millie Stretton has thrived in the early stages of Maryland's spring season.
The junior owns a 9-1 singles record in the third singles position to go along with a 9-2 doubles line while playing with partner Eva Alexandrova in the top spot of Maryland's lineup.
FRESHMEN FEATURE
Maryland's two freshmen Eva Alexandrova and Zoe Kulkarni have been successful in bookending Maryland's singles lineup this season.
Playing at the top two spots of Maryland's singles lineup, Alexandrova has seven wins on the season, including three-straight wins to close out non-conference play. Alexandrova also has found success in doubles, starting the season with a 9-2 record at the top doubles position.
Kulkarni has anchored Maryland's singles lineup, claiming six wins in the fifth and sixth spots of the rotation. She has won back-to-back matches to close out non-conference play.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Maryland has found success on its home court this season, winners of five of their first six home matches this season.
The Terps have won 14 of their last 17 home matches dating back to last season.
SUPER PANOVA
After guiding Maryland to its best season in program history, head coach Daria Panova was named the 2017 Wilson/ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.
She coached Maryland's doubles duo of Kristina Hovsepyan and Alexandra Stanova to the ITA National Indoor Tournament after the two were victorious at ITA Atlantic Regionals.
Panova earned her 50th career victory at Maryland last season after the Terrapins topped Minnesota.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
Maryland's 2018 roster features student-athletes from six countries outside of the United States.
The Terps currently have representatives from Belarus, Israel, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
UP NEXT
Maryland will host Northwestern to open up its B1G home schedule on Friday, Mar. 30. Opening serve at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park is set for noon.
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