Valentina Cvackova wins her number one singles debut Sunday against Quinnipiac. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island tennis team was back in action Saturday night, falling to Quinnipiac on the road 5-2 in their first match of the spring season.
After finishing last year’s COVID-shortened campaign with a 9-2 record and a trip to the Atlantic 10 semifinals, Head Coach Val Villucci said it was important for every member of the team to get playing time early in the season.
“My goal is to keep everybody playing in every match,” she said. “They can play both singles and doubles, but I’m trying to keep everybody doing both.”
This year’s roster consists of eight players, but with each match only having six singles spots, not every player can play both singles and doubles in each one. With it being early in the season, Villucci hopes she can use these first several matches to make adjustments to the lineup and help her team feel “comfortable and confident.”
“I’d like to be a little bit consistent with that,” she said. “There can be some adjustments made.”
Rhody won two out of their six singles matchups against the Bobcats, with freshman Valentina Cvackova coming up on top in a 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 battle at first singles, while Paulina Loredo was victorious 6-4, 6-3 at sixth singles. The Rams also won one of three doubles matches, as twin sisters Sydney and Erin Chratian came away with a 6-3 win at third doubles.
Cvackova, a native of the Czech Republic, had only seen limited action last season prior to her victory on Saturday. According to Villucci, the second-year player overcame a lot of obstacles to get to this point, including injuries and two battles with COVID-19.
“This was really her debut at the number one spot,” she said. “This was something that I knew she was capable of doing –– she just needed time to adjust with everything.”
Even with all the adversity Cvackova has faced, Villucci was confident that she would be able to “turn it around” going into her second year with the team.
“This year, she really turned it around,” she said. “She has the talent to do that.”
While this was just the first match of the season for the Rams, Quinnipiac had already taken part in three competitions so far this spring. This difference put URI at a disadvantage, with the team still looking to “shake the nerves” coming out of the offseason.
“The first one is usually the harder one to get it going,” Villucci said. “But I still felt we had the ability to beat them.”
Prior to Saturday’s contest, the Bobcats’ last win against Rhody came in 2017. The Rams still hold a 3-2 advantage over Quinnipiac in the head-to-head series that dates back to 2007.
Next up, the Rams will head back on the road to take on Sacred Heart University on Sunday. Making adjustments to the doubles lineup and finding consistent playing time for all eight players will be one of the team’s main focuses against the Pioneers, according to Villucci.
“As far as performance, I’m looking for them to just play with more consistency and confidence,” she said. “They have the ability to do it, we just have to get the play time under our belt.”
The match is set to take place at the Tennis Club of Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut at 6 p.m.