Herrman and Cvackova shine in strong performance
Nadia Rajan won her first round singles and doubles matches as part of a historic performance for the Rams. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island tennis team traveled to Dartmouth College to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional tournament over the weekend. A number of Rams had impressive performances but were unable to qualify for the super regional tournament in late October.
The Rams picked up three different singles wins, and the duo of freshman Sophie Herrman and junior Valentina Cvackova advanced to the doubles round of sixteen. Herrman also advanced three rounds in the singles tournament – the farthest a Rhody player has ever gone at the event.
“It was so fun to compete with such great competition,” Herrman said. “We did a great job in singles and doubles, and I was just happy to be a part of it.”
Head Coach Val Villucci said she was very pleased with her team’s performance and the team really showed they could compete with the best.
“It was just a very solid showing,” Villucci said. “We almost qualified for the super regional, and we showed that we can play with the best in the region.”
Herrman defeated Katarina Plumtree of Fairfield while Cvackova beat Ericka Gonzalez of Niagara and senior Nadia Rajan took down Cait McLoughlin of Merrimack, with each of the three wins coming in straight sets. Graduate Paulina Loredo fell to Buffalo’s Deniz Camlek to wrap up the day in singles.
In the doubles, Herrman and Cvackova earned wins over Siena and ranked Buffalo to advance to the second day while Loredo and Rajan fell to Brown.
The second day began with Herrman earning another singles victory over Ashley Hess of Dartmouth in straight sets, but Rajan and Cvackova lost each of their singles matches to Polina Kuzymara and Zeynap Erman of Syracuse. Herrman would lose in the third round of the singles to Stephanie Sanchez of Boston College.
Herrman and Cvackova then took on Rhody’s Atlantic 10 foe the University of Massachusetts in the round of sixteen for the doubles. It was a close contest the whole way through, but the Minutewomen were able to solidify an 8-5 win and knock Rhody out of the tournament completely. However, Villucci felt the match could have gone either way.
“That one against UMass was really close, we could have won that one,” Villucci said. “But credit to them, they were a really good team.”
Herrman was the star of the weekend, making it to the sweet sixteen of the doubles and reaching the third round of the singles, further than any Ram has ever gone at the ITA Regionals.
Villucci said she feels Herrman’s attitude and work ethic make her one of the best on the team as a freshman and that she has promise for a great career going forward.
“She is well trained, and she has high expectations for herself,” Villucci said. “I think what makes her so good is that she isn’t intimidated by the competition. She has nerves, but she is able to use them positively.”
Herrman was proud of the weekend performance but is still looking towards goals for the rest of the season.
“I want to finish the season with a winning record,” Herrman said. “I definitely think that’s possible given how well we played over the weekend.”
The Rams have their first home match this weekend, taking on Monmouth at 3 p.m. at the newly renovated courts on campus before they attend the Brown Invitational.