URI tennis finishes season tied for 7th place in A-10

04/22/09 - The University of Rhode Island tennis team lost to Saint Louis University in the third round of the Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday. Rhode Island finished its season tied for seventh overall in the A-10 with a 15-4 record. The Rams, who began the tournament as the No. 4 seed, defeated No. 13 Saint Bonaventure University before falling to No. 5 Charlotte University and eventually to the eighth-seeded Billikens.

"We're better than they are," head coach Sandy Wood said when asked what worked so well for his team against St. Bonaventure. "Although they're solid, they're a little less consistent and we're just a little stronger than they were."

The Bonnies lost one of the three doubles matches and one of the six singles matches via forfeit because there were only five players that played for St. Bonaventure.

Seniors Grace Hedstrom and Valerie Chacon won because of the forfeit at the No. 3 doubles, while freshman Pam Emery teamed up with junior Amanda Barletta to pick up the victory, 8-4, at the No. 2 doubles. Barletta and Chacon won again in singles, Barletta via forfeit, while freshman Tristany Leikem won at the No. 4 spot to secure a 4-0 victory for the Rams.

"The A-10 is actually a really tough conference," Wood said. "We're now out there and the whole feeling was different, you could tell. The other big dogs all kind of consider us one of the gang now, whereas in the past, we were not."

The Rams were back in action just hours after their win against the Bonnies, taking on No. 5 Charlotte the same night. Rhody fell to the 49ers, dropping all three doubles matches before losing at the No. 1, 2 and 6 spots in singles play.

"We were fine the first day," Wood said. "Charlotte, I think, is actually the second best team in the whole league. I thought we played well against Charlotte and we had a good outing even though we lost."

Rhody got back on the court the following morning, falling to No. 8 St. Louis in the consolation bracket. The Rams fell at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots in doubles play, but picked up a win at the No. 2 doubles, where Emery and Barletta earned Rhody's only win of the day, 8-6. Rhode Island lost at the No. 2, 3 and 5 spots in singles play, ending its season with a 15-4 record.

"I think we were tired," Wood said. "All season long you play one match, and then usually you take a day off and you train, and then you play another match. It's very rare and we try not to schedule multiple matches in a row. That being said, we certainly fought."

Wood applauded his team for its effort and stressed how the 4-0 that the scoreboard read at the end of the day did not correlate to how hard his team played.

"Normally a doubles point takes about 45 minutes," he said. "This doubles point lasted an hour and 45 minutes which is just unheard of. We lost at one in a good, well-played match, we won at two in a good match, we went to a tiebreaker at the three and I think we even had a match point.

"It was so tight and we were one point away from winning the doubles point. Had we won the doubles point, there's a good chance that we might have even won the match. I think we were a little bit deflated when we came so close, fought for nearly two hours just in doubles, and didn't bring it home."

Rhode Island will say goodbye to Chacon and Hedstrom, the only two seniors on the squad, but will welcome back the remaining six players for the 2009-2010 campaign. Wood mentioned how he was very pleased with what his team was able to accomplish this year and noted how next year's team should be no different.

"We should be equally strong [next season]," he said. "Valerie and Grace are wonderful players, wonderful kids and incredible leaders. Brooke Hoover, who was relegated to No. 8 this year, on any given day can play at the same level that they can so we won't drop off at all. We should be very strong again.