The University of Rhode Island women’s tennis team hosted Providence College and Bryant University for the URI Fall Invite over the weekend, winning 15 of its 16 singles matches to finish out the fall slate on a high note.

On Saturday, the Rams took on PC, with all eight URI players earning a win in singles play. Each match was finished in straight sets aside from second-year Grace Darcy, who won her match in three sets by a score of 6-2, 0-6, 10-2.

“I think it’s great for us to compete at home on our home courts and compete against teams on campus and get to showcase their abilities and all their hard work in front of friends and supporters,” URI Head Coach Jonas Brobeck said.

The top doubles pair of fourth-year Nikki Fernando and first-year Kajsa Helgesen made up the team’s only doubles loss on the day, falling 6-2. The following three doubles matches, which included Darcy and second-year Anastasia Pettersson, fourth-years Sophie Herrman and Ava Grnja, and third-year Stephanie Hylton and third-year Blake Rothchild, all earned 6-1 wins.

On Sunday, it was Fernando and Helgesen that picked up the lone doubles win for Rhody, as they took down Bryant third-year Yahli Noy and first-year Laura Stypula 6-3.

“We just kind of talk about what we need to work on a little bit more, structuring specific drills around the specific doubles teams and their needs,” Brobeck said. “I feel like it’s kind of the way we start a match or the way we try to sometimes problem-solve during a match. So, that will definitely be something that we will hone in on for the rest of this fall.”

In singles play, Fernando fell in a three-set battle to Noy by a score of 0-6, 6-3, 12-10. The other three-set match that took place came from Grnja, where she took down Bryant first-year Mila Martinez Rivero to improve to 5-0 in her fall singles play.

“I changed my game style up a bit because I was playing a girl who didn’t really like to miss much,” Grnja said. “I just had to come into the net more [and] change up my game style to mess with hers, and that’s how I won the second and third sets.”

Grnja, one of the three fourth-year captains, had a 3-3 singles record in last year’s spring season.

“I learned a little bit more about my game style, and I also learned it’s really important to go in with a really good mindset even if on paper it doesn’t look like you should win,” Grnja said.

Brobeck and his team will continue to practice throughout the fall ahead of picking up nonconference play in January.

Last season, the Rams fell in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship to the eventual champion, Virginia Commonwealth University. In the regular season, the team went 15-6 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

“[I’m] so excited about the three seniors and their leadership,” Brobeck said. “They’re going to have the best years of their career, and it’s hopefully going to help us take this program to the next level, which is competing for an A-10 championship.”

The Rams will continue practicing indoors throughout the fall and pick back up with regular season action in January.

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