The University of Rhode Island women’s tennis team was welcomed by in-state rival Brown University for the Brown Classic over the weekend.
Rhody competed against the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Boston College on Saturday, followed by Bryant University on Sunday.
Saturday’s slate started with doubles action, as two Rhody pairs faced two UMass duos. The Rams and Minutewomen split wins, with third-year Anastasia Pettersson and second-year Miruna Scarlat pulling out a 6-3 win over third-year Owethu Makhanya and second-year Fiona Ao.
On the other hand, second-year Kajsa Helgesen and fourth-year Blake Rothchild fell 6-3 to fourth-year Amanda de Oliveira and second-year Ga Song Kwon.
Later in the day, Ao doubled down and defeated Pettersson in a tight 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) singles match.
Rhody’s two singles wins came from Rothchild and fourth-year Stephanie Hylton, who engaged in three-set singles victories.
“We’re very deep, so it’s important that everyone gets a lot of quality matches in the fall,” URI head coach Jonas Brobeck said. “We develop, we get better. We need to get a lot of competition in order to feel like it’s less of a shift from practice to match play.”
Hylton took down Makhanya 3-6, 6-0, 10-5, as Rothchild claimed a 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 win over BC’s Lucy King.
While Helgesen and Scarlat did not earn singles wins on Saturday, they were the lone singles winners on Sunday.
It was a straight-sets victory for Helgesen, who fell 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday before defeating Bryant’s first-year Ceylin Konuralp 7-5, 6-2 on Sunday.
“Really close to taking that second set from a very good Boston College player, and played a fantastic match against Bryant on Sunday,” Brobeck said. “From start to finish, she played one of their better players and won a close first set and then an easy second set.”
On the contrary, Scarlat battled for a three-set 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 victory over Bryant’s first-year Ana Mitevska.
“There were a couple of things that we talked about after the first match that she needs to implement in order for her to compete at the highest level,” Brobeck said. “I feel like she did a really good job of that against Bryant, which is awesome to see.”
Despite switching up the doubles pairings on Sunday, neither duo earned a win. Singles wrapped up as Rothchild and Hylton suffered straight-set losses, as Pettersson fell just short of a victory in a 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 defeat to Bryant’s second-year Laura Stypula.
For the final weekend of competition in the team’s fall slate, URI will host Providence College on Friday, as well as Sacred Heart University on Saturday and Quinnipiac University on Sunday for the URI Fall Invite.
