Senior Erin Chratian came up big for the tennis team with a comeback in the third set to beat Sacred Heart’s Aina Garriga. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
On Sunday, the University of Rhode Island tennis team earned their first win of the spring season in a hard-fought 4-3 win over Sacred Heart that came down to the final set.
Erin Chratian, playing the decisive third set, came back after being down 4-1 in the final set to beat Aina Garriga in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. She credited her teammates for helping her make a comeback.
“In the third set, I was down 4-1, and then my teammates came over and they were reassuring me that I could come back, and it gave me a lot of motivation and confidence to be able to actually come back.” Chratian said. “I was able to turn on my A-game and get it back together and win the next five or so games.”
Rhode Island Tennis coach Val Villucci had nothing but praise for Chratian following her match-winning performance.
“Erin Chratian really stepped up for us in a big way,” she said. “Having to handle the pressure at the end, knowing that the match was coming down to her because she was the last match left on the court, with the score being tied 2-2, she knew what was at stake. She was trailing in that third set, but she really stepped it up when the pressure was there. And it was so great to see her be able to respond positively to that pressure.”
Rhode Island won the doubles point, taking two of their three doubles matches. Teammates Valentina Cvakcova and Klara Nelander won 6-4, while sisters Erin and Sydney Chratian were victorious in a tiebreaker, winning 7-6.
Along with Erin Chratian, Nadia Rajan and Klara Najara both picked up important singles wins.
With four singles matches going into a third set, this win was far from easy for the Rams. Coming off of a tough 5-2 loss in their season opener against Quinnipiac, the win served as an important confidence booster going into their home opener next weekend.
“I think that myself and the entire team will definitely be more confident playing in the next match, especially against Providence College.” Chratian said. “I think that definitely this match gave us a good starting point. So now we know exactly what we need to work on for the next week and we’ll be ready to fight them.”
The Rams move on to play Providence College in their home opener on Sunday at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. According to Villucci, their schedule will continue to challenge her team.
“Every match is going to test us,” Villucci said. “I put that schedule together to really get us to our peak performance once the Atlantic 10 comes around so they’re able to handle it. Hopefully, it’ll happen in a positive way, but as you can see, like with that last match, it really could’ve gone in either way. We’ve got to take those wins and really remember them, learn from them and try to make that as part of our confidence-boosting morale as to kind of springboard us to be able to handle all the rest of our schedule.”