JERSEY CITY, N.J. (March 26, 2021) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's tennis team waited nearly two years before returning to intercollegiate competition. When the Scarlet Raptors finally returned to play, they dropped a 9-0 decision against New Jersey City University here Friday in the opening match of the season for both New Jersey Athletic Conference teams.
Rutgers-Camden falls to 0-1 overall and in the NJAC. New Jersey City, in the first match of its program's history, stands at 1-0 and 1-0.
The eight-man Gothic Knight roster features four players from Spain and two more from France. Rutgers-Camden's seven-man roster features only two players who were on the 2018-19 team, the last time the Scarlet Raptors played a match before Friday. One other player returned after playing his lone season during the 2016-17 Rutgers-Camden campaign.
Prior to Friday, the last time the Scarlet Raptors played an intercollegiate match came on April 27, 2019 in a 7-2 victory at Penn State-Abington. The Raptors' entire slate, scheduled for the spring of 2020, was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The Scarlet Raptors were swept in straight sets in all six of their singles competitions, with junior letterman
Shariq Kahn being the only player to take a point in each set, dropping a 6-1, 6-1 decision at sixth singles.
At first and second singles, freshmen
Charles Dalisay and
Andrew Yuen, respectively, both dropped 6-0, 6-1 decisions. Junior
Jair Norman, who played on the 2016-17 team, was swept 6-0, 6-0 at third singles and freshman
Gavin Fernan also lost by a 6-0, 6-0 score at fourth singles. Returning junior
Jose Vargas, who also is a current member of the Raptors' men's soccer program, was defeated at fifth singles, 6-0, 6-1.
Dalisay and Yuen lost at first doubles, 8-1. The duos of Kahn and Norman at second doubles and Fernan and Vargas at third doubles were swept, 8-0.
With this season's action limited to only NJAC competition, the Scarlet Raptors only have three spring matches scheduled. Their next match will be Sunday, April 18, when they host their lone home competition of the season against The College of New Jersey.
