ORLANDO, Fla. – Rhode Island's season came to an end after the Rams fell to George Washington 4-0 in the opening round of the 2022 Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Championship Wednesday.
Playing at the USTA National Campus, the 10th seeded Rams were swept by the seventh-seeded Colonials in each of the completed matches. The tournament is played to result, so once George Washington reached four points, the remaining matches were halted.
After winning at the top two doubles slots, George Washington took a 1-0 lead into singles play. Alexandra Vesikallio beat
Tiara Higuchi 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles moments before Katarina Marinkovikj defeated
Erin Chratian at No. 2, 6-2, 6-1, to make the score 3-0.
Rhode Island needed to win each of the four remaining matches to complete the comeback. Each of the four matches were very competitive. The Rams (9-14) were in solid shape at No. 5 singles, where
Klara Nelander won her opening set against Charlotte Bell, winning in a tiebreaker, 7-6. She led 2-1 in the second set as well.
At No. 4 singles,
Paulina Loredo rallied after dropping her first set to Lindsay Thompson 6-4. She took the second set in dominant fashion, 6-1 before action was halted.
Nadia Rajan and
Sydney Chratian were battling in their respective matches at No. 1 and No. 6, but ultimately could not extend play. Rajan's 7-6, 6-3 loss to Stella Wiessemann sealed the win for George Washington. Chratian was locked in a battle with Lara McNaughten. McNaughten took the opening set 7-5 and was up 4-3 in the second when play was called off.
George Washington advanced to face second-seeded Massachusetts on Thursday, April 28 at 4:30 p.m.
George Washington 5, Rhode Island 0
Singles
No. 1 – Stella Wiesemann (GW) def.
Nadia Rajan (URI); 7-6 (1), 6-3
No. 2 – Katarina Marinkovikj (GW) def.
Erin Chratian (URI); 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 – Alexandra Vesikallio (GW) def.
Tiara Higuchi (URI); 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 –
Paulina Loredo (URI) vs. Lindsay Thompson (GW); 4-6, 1-6, 1-0 unfinished
No. 5 –
Klara Nelander (URI) vs. Charlotte Bell (GW); 7-6, 2-1, unfinished
No. 6 – Lara McNaughten (GW) def.
Sydney Chratian (URI); 7-5, 4-3 unfinished
Doubles
No. 1 – Marinkovikj/Vesikallio (GW) def. Higuchi/Nelander (URI); 6-0
No. 2 – Wiesemann/Bell (GW) def. E. Chratian/S. Chratian (URI); 6-3
No. 3 – Thompson/Bodewes (GW) vs. Rajan/Loredo (URI); 5-1, unfinished
