The University of Rhode Island women’s tennis team traveled to Storrs, Connecticut to compete in its first event of the fall season at the University of Connecticut Invitational over the weekend, setting up promising seasons for new and returning players.
Aside from facing UConn, Rhody competed against United States Military Academy West Point and Sacred Heart University. The three fourth-year captains, Nikki Fernando, Ava Grnja and Sophie Herrman, along with second-years Blake Rothchild and Anastasia Pettersson, earned singles wins in the weekend’s first matchup against Army.
All four of Rhody’s singles wins took two sets, while the rest of the roster, second-year Grace Darcy, first-year Kajsa Helgesen and third-year Stephanie Hylton, went down in three sets in their respective singles matches.
Darcy and Pettersson’s doubles pairing from last season picked back up their success as they won in a 7-6 (1) battle against Army.
URI Head Coach Jonas Brobeck paired up Fernando and Helgesen in practices before the weekend slate. While the tandem fell 6-1 in their matchup with Army, they picked up wins against UConn and SHU on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
“ Kaisa had her first fall tournament as a collegiate tennis player, [which is] always a little nerve-wracking and tough, but her and Nicky did a good job,” Brobeck said. “I felt like they had a tough match against Army, where their rackets were kind of taken out of their hands a little bit with how aggressive the Army team played, but they really settled down great and beat a good UConn team in a tiebreaker on Saturday.”
Fernando and Helgesen took down UConn 7-6 (5) on Saturday before taking down SHU 6-1 on Sunday.
“ It was especially difficult this time because coach put us on the opposite sides of the court that we usually play on,” Fernando said. “We were a bit flustered at first, but I think this weekend showed that we are going to get better with time. By the end of it, we were pretty solid, especially in our last match with Sacred Heart. I felt like our games really complement each other.”
The duo of Hylton and Rothchild also earned two wins over the weekend in doubles play: a victory given due to injury against Army and a 6-3 win over SHU.
Although play was halted before Saturday’s singles play could conclude due to rain, Herrman and Rothchild were undefeated at the point of stoppage and on their way to a 3-0 weekend record.
After their first time back on the courts this season, Brobeck and his squad will take the time they have in the next couple of weeks to go over and clean up any areas that need attention before their next competition.
“In singles, it’s cleaning up shot selection,” Brobeck said. “Being a little bit more aggressive and moving correctly in doubles, so we can do that. You know, I think we’re going to take a big step in the right direction leading into our second fall tournament.”
The Rams will head to Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Oct. 3 for the Harvard Hidden Duel.
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