BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University women's tennis team edged visiting UMass Boston, 5-4, in the Little East Conference opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon.
The defending Little East champion Bears (1-1, 1-0 LEC) captured two out of three doubles matches and split the singles flights to pick up the win. Bridgewater improves to 12-0 all-time against the Beacons (1-2, 0-1 LEC).
In doubles play, Bridgewater's second flight tandem of seniors Bojana Roman (Somerset, Mass.) and Alison Scagnelli (Sutton, Mass.) earned an 8-3 win, while junior Rachel Tarantino (Mansfield, Mass.) and sophomore Angelique Gray (Osterville, Mass.) teamed up for an 8-4 victory at the third spot.
The tandem of senior Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore Katie Gauthier (West Boylston, Mass.) recorded an 8-4 decision at the first doubles flight for the Beacons.
Senior Amanda Strickland (Plymouth, Mass.) and freshman Olivia Sweeney (Taunton, Mass.) posted straight set victories at number four (6-4, 6-1) and number six (6-2, 6-0) singles, respectively. The win for Sweeney marked the first of her collegiate career.
A 6-1, 6-1 triumph at fifth singles by senior Meghan Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass.) followed by a 6-4, 6-2 victory at the top flight by Garcia pulled the Beacons to within one at 4-3.
Roman clinched the match for the Bears as she bounced back from a set down to post a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 win at second singles.
Senior Kathleen Conley (Quincy, Mass.) rounded out the scoring at number three with a tough match against BSU's Scagnelli. Conley and Scagnelli split the first two sets (6-4, 4-6), before Conley won the flight with a 12-10 super tie-breaker in the third set.
In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday for a 3:30 match with the Wildcats. The Beacons entertain Lesley University on Tuesday at three.