BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team picked up its first win of the season as the host Bears posted a 7-2 victory over the University of Southern Maine in a Little East Conference (LEC) match on Tuesday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.
The Bears improve to 1-3 on the season and 1-3 in the Little East, while the visiting Huskies fall to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
Bridgewater swept the three doubles matches and captured four of the six singles flights to come away with the win.
In doubles play, senior Justin Haley (South Yarmouth, Mass.) teamed with classmate Zachary Mutti (Peabody, Mass.) for a 9-7 triumph at the top flight. Junior Michael Scollins (Marshfield, Mass.) and sophomore Joshua Bean (Kingston, Mass.) paired up for an 8-3 victory at second doubles, while the senior tandem of Dan O'Malley (Duxbury, Mass.) and Ross Bloomfield (Lexington, Mass.) posted an 8-2 decision at the third spot.
Haley won in straight sets at first singles, 6-2, 6-2, to give the Bears a 4-0 lead. O'Malley then recorded the fifth and deciding point with 6-1, 6-0 straight set win at number three. Mutti and Bean both won in super tie-breakers after splitting their first two sets at the fourth (6-1, 2-6, 11-9) and fifth (4-6, 6-4, 10-5) flights, respectively.
Juniors Chase Orava (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) and Evan Zuchowski (Dover, N.H.) picked up the Huskies' two points of the match. Orava won in a super tie-breaker, 3-6, 6-3 (10-7), at the second flight, while Zuchowski earned a 6-3, 6-2 straight set decision at number six.
In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Eastern Nazarene College on Thursday afternoon for a 3:30 match with the Lions. The Huskies head to UMass Boston on Saturday afternoon for a one o'clock Little East match with the Beacons.