Photo Credit: GoRhody.com
After a brief appearance in tournament play, the 2021-22 season has come to a close.
In their last match of the regular season, the University of Rhode Island Tennis team fell to UMass 4-0 Saturday before their season ended in round one of the Atlantic 10 tournament by the same score.
Despite their loss at Amherst, Head Coach Val Villucci praised her team’s fight against the A-10’s second-best team.
“We certainly had to play to our potential and then some,” Villucci said. “Like every other match that’s happened over the season, we’ve been very competitive.”
Saturday’s contest wrapped up after the Minutewomen took the first four points to secure the win. In completed singles play, Nadia Rajan fell 6-0, 6-2 at the top spot against freshman Renata Farima, who took home her sixth A-10 Rookie of the Week award of the season for her efforts. Tiara Higuchi fell 6-1, 6-0 and Paulina Loredo came up short 6-3, 6-2 at third and fourth singles respectively. In doubles, the pair of Erin and Sydney Chratian fell 6-1 at the second spot, while the No. 3 doubles duo of Rajan and Loredo also lost by the same margin.
Rhody held their own in the matches that went unfinished. At second singles, Erin Chratian led in her match 6-2, 5-1 before play was halted, nearly coming away with the win. Klara Nelander also had the advantage in a tiebreaker at No. 5 singles, 7-6 (11).
Villucci acknowledges that these types of performances go a long way to keep her players confident, especially after tough stretches when uncertainty can begin to “creep in.”
“The biggest obstacle at times is keeping yourself positive throughout the entire process of a match,” she said. “And that’s not an easy feat since matches can get long and it does become taxing, not only physically but also mentally.”
Other matches that did not reach completion were first doubles, where the duo of Nelander and Higuchi trailed 5-1, and Sydney Chratian at No. 6 singles, who finished down late in the second set 6-1, 5-2.
The Rams have also been without one of their key performers for much of the season. Sophomore Valentina Cvackova, who began the season at the top singles position for URI, has not appeared in the lineup since their loss at Charleston Southern on March 18 due to injury. Having their full lineup would have made Rhody a “stronger team” during their most recent stretch, according to Villucci.
Entering the A-10 tournament in Orlando, Florida as the 10th seed, the Rams started things off with a Wednesday morning rematch against seventh-seeded George Washington. Having faced the Colonials less than three weeks earlier, URI fell 4-0 to GW at home back on April 9.
Having had time to reflect on their previous outing, Villucci said her team’s focus is on staying strong in the “big moments” and coming away with the “deciding point.”
“We’re getting there, we’re right there,” she said. “We have to take some chances and go for it. They’ve got to trust themselves to do that.”
Unfortunately for the Rams, they suffered the same fate the second time around. The Colonials swept doubles, not dropping a game in the first match and taking the second 6-3. In singles play, Erin Chratian fell at the No. 2 position 6-2, 6-1 and Higuchi dropped her match 6-1, 6-1 at third singles. The final point came in the top match, with Rajan falling to reigning A-10 Player of the Week Stella Wiesemann in a close 7-6 (1), 6-3 loss. URI stayed competitive in their unfinished matches, with each singles contest remaining within one game in the second set when GW secured the win.
Rhody finished the 2021-22 campaign with a record of 9-14 overall, going 1-4 in conference play.