Freshman Kajsa Helgesen led the Rhode Island Rams women’s tennis team to a 4-0 victory over Siena on Sunday in Newport, Rhode Island. Helgesen secured her tenth singles win of the season, the most on the team, and also partnered with Nikki Fernando for a doubles victory.
In singles play, Helgesen defeated Reegan Mullaney at No. 5 singles without dropping a game. Over the weekend, she won both of her singles matches in straight sets and conceded only one game overall.
The pairing of Helgesen and Fernando won their No. 1 doubles match against Andrea Vargas and Zaara Omar with a score of 6-1. This win brought Fernando’s career doubles total to 61, tying her for second place in program history alongside Amanda Barletta (2007-10). At No. 2 doubles, Grace Darcy and Anastasia Pettersson also recorded a 6-1 win to secure the doubles point for Rhode Island.
Darcy and Pettersson added wins in singles at No. 3 and No. 4 positions respectively to clinch the team victory. Darcy defeated Vargas 6-0, 6-4, while Pettersson was leading Selma Bellaouchi when Bellaouchi retired from their match.
Rhode Island head coach Jonas Brobeck commented on the performance: “Overall, it was a good weekend at home,” he said. “Today against Siena was our most complete match so far this season. We set the tone in doubles and played on our terms in singles which helped us control the momentum swings of the match better.”
The Rams improved their record to 6-3 with this win and have now won two consecutive matches. Their next contest is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 at Quinnipiac with play beginning at 5 p.m.
