BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The visiting UMass Boston women's tennis team posted an 8-1 victory over Bridgewater State University in a Little East Conference (LEC) match on Tuesday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

The Beacons improve to 8-1 on the season and 7-0 in the Little East as they clinched at least a share of their second straight conference regular season title as well as the top seed in next week's Little East Tournament. The Bears fall to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

UMass swept the three doubles matches and captured five of the six singles flights.

In doubles play, freshman Zainab Patel (Ahmedabad, India) and senior Lydia Chan (Quincy, Mass.) teamed for an 8-4 win at the top flight while the freshman tandem of Sandra Watson (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Kaya-Lilliana Rutkowski (Berlin, Conn.) earned an 8-4 decision at number three. The UMB junior pairing of Ayonna Stuppard (Randolph, Mass.) and Elena Albano (Haverhill, Mass.) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-5 triumph at the second flight.

Patel (6-1, 6-1), Chan (6-1, 6-0), Stuppard (6-3, 6-2), Albano (6-0, 6-0) and Watson (6-0, 6-0) all won in straights set for the Beacons in singles play at the first through fifth flights, respectively.

Freshman Samantha Bettencourt (Tiverton, R.I.) picked up the Bears' lone point of the match in singles play as she notched a 6-0, 4-6, 10-7 win at number six. Bettencourt improved to 8-2 on the season in singles play with the win.

Both teams are back in action on Thursday afternoon. The Bears host Little East rival Rhode Island College at three o'clock while the Beacons travel to Nichols College to take on the Bison at 3:30.

Notes: Bridgewater State is 15-3 versus UMass since 2005. The Beacons, however, have won three of the last four matches.