Isaac Bean
Sports Editor
After a successful 11-2 record in the regular season, Rhode Island College’s women’s tennis team entered the Little East Championship as the No. 2 seed. The Anchowomens first match of the tournament came in the semifinals against the number No. 6 seeded Western Connecticut State University Wolves.
The Anchorwomen had just beaten the Wolves 7-2 a little over a week before this scheduled match. The stakes were now higher, as the winner would go on to play in the Little East Conference Finals for a chance to win a conference championship.
The Wolves got off to a hot start in this match. The match started with doubles, and the wolves would win two of the three matches. The doubles team of Amiah Sommer and Amara Devine were able to take an 8-5 victory for the Anchorwomen in the No. 2 spot, to stop the Wolves from going up 3-0. Down 2-1, the Anchorwomen would have to rely on their singles if they wanted to get back to the conference finals.
Starting at the No. 4 singles, Senior Anna Vygoder would get RIC a much needed win. The match was now tied at 2 a piece. Sommer and Devine, who both previously won at doubles, were able to pull double duty in this match as both won their singles to give RIC a 4-2 lead. Only needing one more win to close out the match, RIC would look to Senior No. 1 single, Lauren Macera to close it out. Macera was able to do just that, as she won both sets by a score of 6-1. This would send RIC to its eight consecutive Little East finals.
The finals was a tough matchup for Rhode Island College. The Anchorwomen were set to play the No. 1 seeded UMass Boston. The Beacons had already beaten the Anchorwomen 7-2 earlier in the season.
The match started off with the doubles. The Beacons swept all three doubles matches, to go up 3-0 heading into singles. The Anchorwomen needed five singles wins in order to win the match, and that was just too much to ask. The Beacons had victories at No. 2 and 6 singles to give them a Little East Conference Championship win for the second straight year.
Despite the loss, the Anchorwomen had a great season and should have nothing to be ashamed of.
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