The University of Rhode Island women’s tennis team sent three members to Davidson College over the weekend to compete in the inaugural Atlantic 10 Masters Qualifier Championships.
Team members that were not making the trip to Davidson, were in Kingston competing in the URI Fall Invite. The team members that made the trip to Davidson, North Carolina were first-year Katharina Spieth, third-year Nikki Fernando and third-year Sophie Herrman. They competed in both singles and doubles. Herrman and Spieth both had opening round victories and Speith made a deep tournament run to the semi-final.
The tournament serves as a pathway for A-10 players to qualify for the Conference Masters Championships, followed by the NCAA Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships.
“Our vision and our goal for this fall,” URI Head Coach Jonas Brobeck said. “Compared to last year’s fall was to play more and play against more competitive teams and high level players.”
On Friday, Spieth won her first match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, defeating Saint Bonaventure University third-year Isabella Venter to advance to the round of 16. Herrman also won her first singles match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0. However, she was defeated in the next round by University of Massachusetts fourth-year Thamonpon Jonglertrakul, 6-1, 6-2.
In the round of 16, Spieth faced off against UMass fourth-year Marina Campino, who received a bye in the first round of the tournament. Spieth pulled off the upset, winning in straight sets once again with a pair of 6-4 set scores.
In doubles, Fernando and Spieth had a competitive opening match, but ended up falling just short in an 8-6 loss to Virginia Commonwealth University’s team of second-year Mariam Ibrahim and first-year Amelie Jewelwics. The next day, Spieth and Fernando played in the doubles consolation match, where they were defeated by UMass third-year Ella Faessler and her second-year partner Amelia Tye 8-6.
On Saturday, Spieth continued her singles run, winning her quarter-final match against Davidson first-year Ellie Hammond in straight sets once again, 6-3, 6-2. She then competed in the tournament semi-final against Richmond University first-year Sofia Barbulescu. Spieth won the opening set of the match in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-1), but after that, Barbulescuended Spieth’s streak of seven straight set wins by taking the next set 6-4. In the deciding set, Barbulescu won 6-3 to eliminate Speith. Barbulescu would go on to win the tournament and receive an invitation to the Conference Masters Championship.
“This is kind of a receipt to see what path we are on with Katharina,” Brobeck said. “I hope these results only strengthen her confidence. She is one of the best players in this league and it also shows our team that we are on the right path.”
The Rams won’t be back in action until 2025, as the URI Fall Invite and A-10 Master Qualifier Single and Double Championships concluded their fall season.
“If you look at this year’s fall schedule, It’s on purpose that we schedule it against higher quality level teams,” Brobeck Said. “Maybe we win less matches, but for us to be at a level where we can compete for A-10 championships, we need to play these high level teams.”
In the 2023 spring season, URI went 14-7 and made it to the second round of the A-10 tournament in Brobeck’s first year in charge. This year, Brobeck is looking to build off not only last season’s success in the spring, but also a strong showing in the fall, to bring an A-10 championship back to Kingston for the first time ever.