The University of Rhode Island women’s tennis team began Atlantic 10 Conference play with a 4-0 win over Saint Joseph’s University on Saturday before taking down Drexel University in a 4-2 victory on Sunday.
Traveling to Philadelphia, the Rams extended their winning streak to three, advancing to 10-6 on the season.
Saturday’s contest saw weather delays, as the Rams were scheduled to play at 10 a.m. outdoors, but did not begin playing until 6 p.m. at an indoor facility. This led to both teams playing in singles only, with the first team to four points winning the match.
Ultimately, it was second-year Anastasia Pettersson who clinched the match with her 6-4, 6-4 singles win over Hawks’ first-year June Tronhus.
“ The girls really dealt with [the] external circumstances of the delay, waiting longer at the hotel, prepping to get ready, but just controlling the things that we can control, which is such an important thing as an athlete and a human being,” URI Head Coach Jonas Brobeck said.
Fourth-year Nikki Fernando, second-year Grace Darcy and fourth-year Sophie Herrman also picked up singles wins in straight sets to complete the sweep for URI. Finishing the weekend with two singles wins and one doubles win, Herrman earned the A-10 Player of the Week.
Saint Joseph’s earned its first A-10 win and second overall victory against St. Bonaventure University three hours before falling to Rhody and dropping to 1-3 in conference play.
Drexel took down the Hawks on Jan. 24 in a 5-2 win, but came into its contest with URI on a two-game losing streak against teams in the Coastal Athletic Association.
The doubles point was hard-fought to start the match, but the Rams came out on top with wins from Darcy and Pettersson in the No. 2 spot and Herrman and fourth-year Ava Grnja in the No. 3 spot.
“ I’ve been playing with Ava the whole season, and it’s been so much fun,” Herrman said. “I feel like it just showed how much we’ve been able to play together, that we were able to play so smoothly on court and just really execute a lot of things that we’ve been working on throughout the season.”
Fernando and first-year Kajsa Helgesen fell in a 7-6 match against fifth-year Lorie Lemongo and fourth-year Adva Dabah. In a similarly tight fashion, Darcy and Pettersson won their match 7-6 over second-year Anastasia Kavounov and third-year Rebecca Fiedler.
“ It was such a 50-50 match from start to finish,” Brobeck said. “The girls being in those situations, getting experience with those situations and understanding that these matches truly come down to one point here and there; every point matters, and it’s never over.”
After combining with Grnja for the 6-4 doubles win, Herrman picked up her second singles win of the weekend at the No. 3 spot in a 6-4, 6-3 defeat over third-year Sofiya Snitko.
“ It’s always fun when you can get a win,” Herrman said. “We’ve been practicing a lot, and I feel like, with this being my last year, it was really nice to close out a competitive match with a win. I was really happy to contribute to the team’s win overall.”
Drexel’s two team points came in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots, as Fernando and Darcy were taken down in straight sets. Helgesen and first-year Miruna Scarlat earned the final two points for URI at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
In the A-10 Preseason Poll, the University of Richmond was ranked third, URI was ranked fourth and Davidson College was ranked fifth. The Rams are set to take on the Spiders and Wildcats this weekend in Davidson, N.C. Both matches are at 11 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
