The University of Rhode Island women’s tennis team extended its winning streak to five games with a pair of wins during its first weekend of action against Atlantic 10 Conference opponents.
After earning three consecutive wins on their Louisiana trip from March 12-14, the Rams stayed on the road to face off against George Washington University on Saturday.
In an all-around complete effort in both doubles and singles play, URI took down GW 4-0. In the A-10 preseason poll, GW was ranked sixth, while URI was ranked eighth.
The No. 1 and No. 2 doubles spots clinched the early lead for Rhody. The first-year tandem of Grace Darcy and Anastasia Pettersson earned the 6-0 win, followed by third-year Nikki Fernando and first-year Katharina Spieth winning 6-2.
The back half of the lineup, Darcy, Pettersson and fourth-year Klara Nelander, took care of their opponents in straight sets to secure the team victory.
“ It was by far the best doubles point we played as a team of the season so far,” URI Head Coach Jonas Brobeck said. “It was more about our commitment to the process and that we are not wavering.”
URI’s focus is not on its opponents or rankings, but rather on its own play, according to Fernando.
“ No matter what the conditions are, whoever we play, it’s about focusing on what we can control,” Fernando said. “[We focus on] how we play, how we approach things, and I think that’s the biggest thing we learned.”
Fernando was up 6-3, 6-5 in her singles match when the team win was secured, so it did not finish. Spieth and third-year Sophie Herrman were on track for a tight-knit three-set match, but play was halted before it could take place.
Sunday morning’s matchup against George Mason University was where Fernando earned her credited singles win in another perfect 4-0 team victory.
Fernando and Spieth came away with a 6-1 doubles win to start the day in the No. 1 spot, and the No. 3 spot of Nelander and Herrman took down their opponents 6-3.
“ [Spieth and I] have been fired up recently, especially after spring break,” Fernando said. “It was a bit of a rocky road trying to figure out this hump that we had to go over in terms of playing against better and better teams. This weekend, I feel like we really rose to the occasion, and we also made it a point to just have fun because that’s when we play our best.”
Nelander put the Rams up 2-0 with her 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles, followed by Fernando’s 6-2, 6-1 win. Pettersson sealed the deal for the Rams with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
Spieth, Herrman and Darcy all won their first set and dropped their second set, but their matches were all halted before the third set was completed.
“ Klara did a fantastic job finishing in great fashion, and Nikki did a good job as well, so we were up 3-0 quite early,” Brobeck said. “Then we had to dig down in some spots because George Mason wasn’t rolling over. So credit to them, and that’s so valuable to get those matches as well because that’s how every conference match should be; the highest level of competition.”
Rhody will head home to the URI Tennis Complex to take on their next conference opponent, Davidson College, on Saturday at 1 p.m.
