To say that University of Rhode Island’s women’s tennis has had bad luck over the last several years would certainly be an understatement.
For the past two seasons, the team has faced one unfortunate situation after another. Halfway through the 2018-2019 season, then-head coach Gordon Ernst resigned from the University after being indicted in connection with the highly-controversial college admissions scandal. Last season, the team saw their schedule end abruptly in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that span, the team had an overall record of 4-12.
Despite all of this, now-head coach Val Villucci says the team is doing well and is in good spirits heading into her second year with the team.
“They’ve responded as best as I think any team can respond,” Villucci said.
In fact, Villucci says that the previous season being cut short may have been exactly what had to happen for the team to start moving forward in the right direction. Up to that point, they had spent very little time together and had not yet fully bonded as a team.
“To have to cut our season short definitely was something that we needed as a team,” Villucci said. “Going through adversity definitely pulls the team closer together.”
The offseason has presented even more challenges, as most sports have been unable to practice during the outbreak of the pandemic. With the team’s typical offseason routine not going as planned, the need to focus on the fundamentals has become increasingly important according to Villucci. In place of hitting and practices, there is now a newfound emphasis on improving the game’s foundational skills.
“We’re able to fine-tune our skills, which sometimes we don’t have a chance to do if we’re in the midst of our season,” Villucci said.
In addition, she added that fitness, mental toughness and competition are some of the team’s primary focuses looking forward to next season.
Unfortunately, the ability to compete with one another has been significantly hindered due to the pandemic. Safety restrictions have made going outside and playing together as a unit difficult, while competition with other schools has been eliminated until spring 2021. However, Villucci is confident that the team will continue to challenge themselves and be competitive in any way they still can.
“The thing that we will be losing a little bit is obviously the competition,” Villucci explained. “But we’re going to try to keep that as sharp as we can just amongst each other.”
With the virus factoring into this upcoming season, it is difficult to see what the future holds. The conditions that come with living during a global pandemic have made planning ahead, even slightly, seem impossible. While this unprecedented time will continue to bring about new challenges, Coach Villucci knows her team has worked hard and has the right mindset to succeed going forward.
“You have to just attack each day as it comes,” said Villucci. “We can’t predict the future, but we can at least try to prepare for it.”