BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's tennis team celebrated Senior Day with an 8-1 Little East Conference (LEC) victory over visiting VTSU Castleton on Saturday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts. With the win, Bears' skipper Dave Purpura became the winningest coach in BSU women's tennis history.

The Bears improve to 8-4 on the season and 5-2 in the Little East while the Spartans fall to 4-9 overall and 2-6 in conference play. Bridgewater is 5-0 (4-0 at home) versus Castleton since the Spartans joined the LEC in 2018.

Purpura now has 64 wins in his eight seasons at Bridgewater State. He surpassed Barry Gorman who recorded 63 coaching wins while guiding the Bears from 2008 to 2012.

Following the match, the Bears honored seniors Allison Carter (Raynham, Mass.) and Erin Lally (Danvers, Mass.) as well as graduate student Mackenzie Silveira (Middletown, R.I.).

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

In doubles play, BSU junior Madeline Von Ruden (Ashley Falls, Mass.) teamed with Silveira for an 8-0 win at number one while Carter and junior Meghan Lotti (Stoneham, Mass.) earned an 8-1 decision at the second flight. Sophomore Yasmine Queen (Waltham, Mass.) and freshman Samantha Bettencourt (Tiverton, R.I.) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-0 victory at the third spot.

Von Ruden (6-3, 6-1), Silveira (6-1, 6-0), Carter (6-3, 6-1), Lotti (6-2, 7-5) and Bettencourt (6-1, 6-0) all won in straight sets for the Bears in singles play at the first, second, third, fifth and sixth flights, respectively.

Senior Camille Jackson (Sydney, Australia) picked up the Spartans' lone point of the match with a 6-2, 6-2 straight set triumph at number four singles.

Up Next: Bridgewater wraps up Little East and regular season play on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Plymouth University to take on the Panthers at one.