On Saturday, the University of Rhode Island club tennis team traveled to the University of New Hampshire to compete in the annual Wicked Six tournament and finished Third overall.
The Wicked Six is a tournament that consists of six New England-based teams, hosted by UNH. The tournament is a round-robin style with consolation matches.
Although each team is not guaranteed a spot in the tournament, the Rams were lucky enough to be selected this year, and following past years performances, they were looking to improve according to URI Club Tennis Vice President Ben Thomas.
“I think we have a good increase in talent this year, so I’m hoping we can play pretty well and hopefully make it into some deeper rounds,” URI Club Tennis President Jackson Ponte said.
The Rams did just that. They finished the weekend 2-1, won the consolation bracket and ended up third overall for the tournament. This performance was an all around team effort, as every member who attended the tournament were able to participate.
“I think we exceeded expectations,” Thomas said. “The last time we went we did not win a match.”
Along with the team effort, Thomas went undefeated in his two matches, playing one doubles match and one singles. In his singles match, he was able to solidify the consolation bracket for the Rams.
“All the teams were chatting and getting to know each other during the breaks,” Thomas said. “It was a good environment.”
Despite the competitive nature of the tournament, the teams were able to come together and Interact with one another according to Thomas.
Competing in non-varsity sports comes with many perks, as it is not as time consuming or as much pressure as a varsity sport, but it does still have some unique challenges that varsity sports don’t face according to Ponte.
“Whenever we travel we have to just literally drive ourselves, we carpool and the school will reimburse us for gas and stuff, but we’re responsible for traveling ourselves,” Ponte said.
Regardless of this, there are still many benefits to participating in non-varsity sports according to Thomas. It will bring you into a community of people with a shared passion for a sport as well as allowing you to keep playing a sport you like at the collegiate level.
“I pretty much met a lot of my best friends through club tennis and it’s a great way to be involved in the URI community,” Ponte said.
An interesting freedom for club tennis is the players decide how involved they are. Players are expected at practice twice a week of six available practices and only at matches when they are available, which makes sure that students can balance their athletics and academics.
“There’s a lot on our plate,” Ponte said. “We scheduled a lot of matches this year so we’re trying to really go to as many things as we can and try to get as much experience as possible, so there’s a little bit of stress involved but there is excitement too.”
The team will continue their fall season as they get ready to travel to Smith College in Massachusetts to compete in the annual sectionals tournament from Oct.18-20.