Before the rain shortened the Stony Brook Classic, the University of Rhode Island Women’s tennis team was dominating the invitational held at Stony Brook University in New York for their first action of the 2018 season.
One standout at the Classic from URI was freshman Erin Chratian. Chratian is from Georgia, where she won several high-level singles and doubles tournaments. She was on her way to the Singles A Flight finals before the rain canceled the event.
Chratian defeated Stony Brook’s Jamie Wei in straight sets in the opening round before beating Navy’s Kaylah Hodge. Chratian beat Hodge in a back and forth match 6-3, 5-7, 10-6. Beating Navy’s Hodge will look well on Chratian’s record sheet since Hodge, a junior had been playing first singles for Navy her whole collegiate career.
Chratian also paired with Halah Davis, a sophomore, resulting in an appearance in the semifinals of the A Flight doubles bracket. The young doubles team collected victories over Fordham and Army before falling to Stony Brook’s doubles team of Wei and Nolwenn Cardoso.
Davis and fellow teammates, Junior Tiara Higuchi, and Chratian’s twin sister, Sidney, each grabbed singles wins over the past weekend, resulting in going 1-1 in their respected flights. Sidney Chratian and Paulina Loredo also teamed up to reach the semifinals of the Doubles B Flight.
In URI’s first dual of match of the season, they were able to sweep Merrimack 7-0 at the URI Tennis Complex this past Thursday. It was the Rams first action at home.
URI continued to ride the hot hand as freshman Erin Chratian continued her dominance winning her singles match 6-2, and 6-0. The Rams young talent helped take the match as freshman Sydney Chratian, twin sister of Erin, won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles.
The Rams were able to sweep Merrimack and win all seven matches. The Rams had four singles matches where they were able to hold their opponent under three wins.
It was the first head-to-head match for new coach Gordie Errnst.
Coach Gordie Ernst comes to URI from Georgetown University and is happy to be back in his home state of Rhode Island. He is excited to see this interesting bunch of athletes gel. The team has had a tough start–four players have had injuries–but have healed and are ready to go.
“This team had a lot of tough losses, we need to shake it off and get our confidence up again,” said Ernst. “In the Atlantic 10, we will battle with a lot of teams, each on watching us. Every match will be a chance to show the other schools who we are.”
New England Tennis Hall of Famer Gordie Ernst has an impressive resume where he was able to help turn around the Hoyas of Georgetown and lead them to their first national ranking in 2013.
The Rhode Island native has coached a total 35 All-Big East honorees and more than a dozen Academic All-Americans. Ernst was also the head tennis pro for the First Family of the United States dating back to 2009.
Up next for the Rams is in-state rival Providence College as part of the URI Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 6.