The Pirates (6-13, 2-5) have now lost five consecutive meetings between the schools.
Despite the loss, sophomores Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) continued to rewrite the SHU record books from atop the team's doubles lineup, overwhelming Rutgers' top pair of Jennifer Holzberg and Vanessa Petrini and taking an 8-3 victory.
Portela and Sher have now won the last 12 times that they have been penciled into the doubles lineup, a stretch that includes six BIG EAST matches. The duo of second-year players already boasts the most career wins by any SHU doubles team since 2001.
The Hall could not manage another doubles victory however, allowing the doubles point to go to Rutgers.
In singles play, Sher scored the only point of the day for the Pirates as she again squared off with Petrini, the fifth-ranked singles player in the Northeast region.
The two had previously met earlier this fall in the second round of the ITA Regional Tournament with Petrini prevailing.
The Hong Kong native eased through the first set without dropping a game but Petrini rebounded to take a back- and-forth second set 5-7.
Sher navigated her way through the tiebreak, eventually coming out on top to record a 6-0, 5-7, 10-6 victory.
The win is the third straight for SHU's top singles player, and her sixth in seven singles matches against BIG EAST competition this spring.
More notably, Sher notched her third win over a regionally ranked opponent this season. She previously defeated #73 Fordham's Amy Simidian (#16 Northeast) and Lauren Greco (#7 Atlantic) of Georgetown.
Freshman Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) pushed RU's Lindsay Balsamo to three sets in the number five position.
Shoemaker took the first set 7-6 (7-5) but came up short in the final two frames, losing 7-6 (7-5), 0-6, 3-10.
"I am pleased with how hard our team fought today," said head coach Greg Wyzykowski. "I feel like a lot of our matches were a lot tighter than the final scores would indicate. If we come out with the same intensity this weekend, I think it will translate into more success."
The Pirates are right back in action on Saturday, April 14 when they welcome the West Virginia Mountaineers to South Orange. Start-time is scheduled for Noon.
It will be Senior Day for Courtney Kilarski (Roseville, Calif.) and Elizabeth Verow (Barnt Green, England) when SHU wraps up its regular season on Sunday, April 15 with a matchup against #57 Syracuse. First serve is slated for 10 a.m.
Seton Hall 1, Rutgers 6
Singles
1. Chloe Sher (SHU) def. Vanessa Petrini (RU), 6-0, 5-7, 10-6
2. Jennifer Holzberg (RU) def. Rocio Portela (SHU), 7-6 (4), 6-2
3. Morgan Ivey (RU) def. Elizabeth Verow (SHU), 6-3, 6-0
4. Stefania Balasa (RU) def. Karina Cordero (SHU), 6-1, 6-1
5. Lindsay Balsamo (RU) def. Madison Shoemaker (SHU), 6-7 (5), 6-0, 10-3
6. Noor Judeh (RU) def. Maria Rodriguez (SHU), 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Portela/Sher (SHU) def. Holzberg/Petrini (RU), 8-3
2. Balsamo/Ivey (RU) def. Shoemaker/Verow (SHU), 8-2
3. Balasa/Judeh (RU) def. Anna Guryanova/Rodriguez, 8-1
The Pirates will spend their off day hosting an ITA Campus Kids Day.
Events will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Auxillary Gym of the Richie Regan Athletic Center on Seton Hall's South Orange Campus.
Highlights will include tennis drills, racket stencling, autograph and picture opportunities, and pizza with the Pirates.
A recap of the event will be available on SHUpirates.com
