BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team advanced to the semifinal round of the 2013 Little East Conference Tournament as the fourth-seeded Bears downed fifth-seeded Salem State University, 5-1, on Tuesday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

Bridgewater (10-5) moves on to face number one seed UMass Boston on Thursday at 3:00 PM in the tournament semifinals.  Salem ends the season with a record of 3-11.

The Bears took two out of three doubles matches with junior Jesse Gotlib (Dartmouth, Mass.) and sophomore Sean Bleau (North Dighton, Mass.) posting an 8-0 decision at the first flight and junior Eric Johnson (Kingston, Mass.) and freshman Hung Huynh (Worcester, Mass.) teaming for an 8-6 win at the second flight.

The visiting Vikings picked up their lone point of the afternoon as senior Krystian Biedul (Podkowa Lesinas, Poland) and freshman Conner Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass.) won 8-5 at third doubles.

A 6-1, 6-3 straight set victory by Johnson at sixth singles and a 7-5, 6-2 win by Bleau at the fifth flight staked the Bears to a 4-1 lead.  Sophomore Wesley Esthimer (Franklin, Mass.) then closed out the match with a 6-1, 6-4 straight set decision at the top flight.  The remaining three singles matches were left unfinished.

Notes: Johnson improved to 13-1 on the season with his singles win…The Bears reached the ten-win mark for just the fourth time in program history and first since 2009.