Date: April 12th-13th, 2008

Location: University of Delaware

Format: modified WTT

Summary: With the weather iffy all week leading up to the Blue Hen Invitational, it was tough to tell whether the tournament would even happen. But play went on, and Rutgers managed to pull through on Sunday.

The Blue Hen Invitational brought some of the top teams in the northeast as 16 teams from 13 schools participated. Saturday offered some weather challenges with play being delayed for an hour, then another delay in the afternoon, followed by some indoor play. Ultimately, pool play was done by 9:30 Saturday night. The two biggest matches of the day were UMBC's win over Delaware and UVA's close win over Pitt.

Eight teams advanced to the Gold Bracket Sunday, with the remaining eight in the Silver Bracket. Navy won a tough Mid-Atlantic matchup over UMBC 26-20. Rutgers beat Pitt 23-15. UVA edged Delaware Blue 26-20, and Villanova managed Delaware Gold 29-18. In the semifinals, Villanova won in a mild upset over UVA, and Rutgers beat Navy in a match that went down to mixed doubles 24-23. This brought two teams to the final who had yet to win a tournament this year. Rutgers started out winning both doubles matches 6-1 each. Villanova then won the singles matches, cutting the lead down a bit. After being down 2-5, Rutgers came back to win the match and the tournament 23-21. Both teams will play in the USTA Campus Championship this weekend in Cary, NC.

In the Silver Bracket, Maryland battled through the draw to beat Rutgers B in the final.

Team Standings

1. Rutgers A

2. Villanova A

3t. Navy

3t. UVA

5t. UMBC

5t. Delaware Blue

5t. Pittsburgh

5t. Delaware Gold

9. Maryland

10. Rutgers B

11t. TCNJ

11t. VIllanova B

13t. Towson

13t. Loyola

13t. Drexel

16. Temple