The Rhode Island Women’s Tennis team took to the court at the Tennis Hall of Fame to take on Power-5 opponent Rutgers. Despite a 7-0 defeat, Coach Val Villucci and the girls feel there are significant improvements being made and the Rams can take on any team in the country.
Over the past two seasons, the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island has become a home-away-from-home for the Rams as they practice four or five days out of the week at the venue.
“We like to think of it as our home court,” said Coach Villucci. “We are there all the time and play most of our home matches there. We love it there.”
When asked what it is about the venue that sets it apart from other University courts, Villucci said, “It has six courts as opposed to the usual four. This allows us to play all our matches at the same time rather than having to wait. There definitely is the special air about the place as well and you can feel the history in the building.”
The Rams aren’t the only ones who enjoy playing here, as big time programs from around the country flock to have a shot at playing in such a historic place. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights from New Brunswick, New Jersey were the most recent of the opponents to travel to Newport for this opportunity and the Rams were happy to take them on.
The Rams got off to a good start in the No. 1 doubles as sophomore Erin Chratian and senior Michaela Codreanu took home a 6-3 victory. However, the other two doubles matches resulted in losses giving Rutgers the victory in that category.
Though the Rams continued their strong efforts into the singles matches, the Scarlet Knights kept up their slight edge, scraping by in many matches and walking away with the wins.
Despite the 7-0 scoreline, Villucci and the girls are much more confident in themselves. “We are right there with a lot of these great teams,” said Villucci. “We know that, even though we lost, we can beat anyone on any given day and are happy with the improvements we have made. For some people it is like night and day. It will take some luck as well, but we just need to recognize those moments where we can take control and take some more chances. I have no doubt we can compete on this level.”
The Rams will look to add onto that improvement when they hit the road to take on Boston University on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 3 p.m.