BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's tennis team opened the 2016 campaign with a 7-2 victory over Little East Conference (LEC) foe Plymouth State University on Thursday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

The win marked the first collegiate coaching victory for first-year head coach David Purpura.

The host Bears (1-0, 1-0 LEC) captured all three doubles matches and four of the six singles flights to record the conference win. With the setback, the visiting Panthers slip to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in the Little East.

Bridgewater State received doubles wins from juniors Alison Scagnelli (Sutton, Mass.) and Alisha Silva (Taunton, Mass.) at the top flight, juniors Bojana Roman (Somerset, Mass.) and Amanda Strickland (Plymouth, Mass.) at the second spot, and the sophomore/freshman tandem of Rachel Tarantino (Mansfield, Mass.) and Angelique Gray (Osterville, Mass.) at number three.

Roman and Strickland breezed to straight set victories at the second (6-0, 6-0) and fourth (6-1, 6-1) singles flights, respectively, to clinch the match. Scagnelli added a 6-1, 6-3 decision at number three singles, while Gray battle back from a set down to win at the sixth spot, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.

Sophomore Irene Ireme (Concord, N.H.) battled to a tough 5-7, 6-3, 10-5 victory at the top singles flight for Plymouth State, while freshman Alex Dunn (Jaffrey, N.H.) won in straight sets at number five, 6-0, 6-3.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday afternoon at one. The Bears travel to the University of Southern Maine, while the Panthers entertain Worcester State University.