By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's tennis team has advanced to the semifinal round of the Little East Conference tournament.
The third-seeded Bears opened the postseason by eliminating the sixth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 5-0, at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts on Tuesday afternoon.
BSU (10-3, three straight wins) now travels to Providence, R.I., to meet second-seeded Rhode Island College on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
The Bears swept the three doubles matches and posted a pair of wins in singles to reach the five points needed for the victory over the Corsairs (8-8).
The doubles teams of senior Madeline Von Ruden (Ashley Falls, Mass.) and graduate student Mackenzie Silveira (Middletown, R.I.) won at No. 1 for BSU while freshmen Aislyn Kelliher (Plymouth, Mass.) and Morgan Smith (Taunton, Mass.) earned a win at No. 2 doubles.
Senior Meghan Lotti (Stoneham, Mass.) and sophomore Samantha Bettencourt (Tiverton, R.I.) prevailed at No. 3 doubles.
The singles winners in straight sets were Kelliher at No. 5 and Bettencourt at No. 6.
Von Ruden and Silveira improved to 9-2 with an 8-3 victory over the duo of sophomore Maddie Gonzalez (Pawcatuck, Conn.) and graduate student Emma Collings (Marion, Mass.).
Kelliher and Smith are now 10-1 after an 8-1 win over junior Zuri Walters (Dorchester, Mass.) and sophomore Sofia Beltran (New Bedford, Mass.).
Lotti and Bettencourt are 9-4 following an 8-2 victory over sophomore Saige Croce (Willow Grove, Pa.) and freshman Lauren Burgess (Plymouth, Mass.).
Kelliher is 12-1 in her rookie season after defeating Croce, 6-2, 6-0, to give the Bears a 4-0 lead. She went 8-0 in Little East matches during the regular season.
Bettencourt secured the decisive fifth point with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Burgess for her 10th win against two losses. She posted a 6-1 regular-season mark in the Little East.
The other four singles matches involving Von Ruden, Silveira, Lotti and freshman Sarah Pothier (Rochester, Mass.) went unfinished. Silveira and Pothier were both up a set at second (7-5) and fourth (6-3, 2-1) singles, respectively, while Von Ruden and Lotti trailed at first (3-6, 2-0) and third (3-6, 0-2) singles, respectively..
RIC (14-1, 7-1 Little East) handed the Bears an 8-1 loss this season on Sept. 7 in a match that took place in Providence.
BSU and RIC have met eight times in the Little East tournament with the Anchorwomen holding a 5-3 advantage.
The Bears' victories came in 2016 (5-4 in the final round), 2013 (5-0 in the final round) and 2008 (5-2 in the quarterfinal round).
RIC defeated BSU three times in the final round (2014, 2017 and 2021) and twice in the semifinal round (2014 and 2022).
The other semifinal-round pairing has two-time defending champion and the top-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston (11-2) hosting fourth-seeded Plymouth State on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The Panthers eliminated fifth-seeded Salem State, 5-2.
The championship will be decided on Saturday with the winner going to the NCAA Division 3 tournament next spring.