By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Her first experience with collegiate athletics included playing basketball and softball at Dean College in the 2019-20 academic year.
Mackenzie Silveira (Middletown, R.I.) had played those two sports plus tennis at Middletown High School with her team winning back-to-back Rhode Island championships in tennis.
But after one year at the school in Franklin, Mass., Silveira decided she wanted to transfer and began the search for a new college option.
The path led her to Bridgewater State University, a place where she was reunited with tennis after being away from the sport for a year.
"I didn't have a great (basketball) experience (at Dean), so I was looking to get closer to home," said Silveira. "I found Bridgewater. I was kind of missing playing tennis, so when I saw there was a tennis team and that Bridgewater was closer than Dean, I reached out to (BSU tennis) Coach (David) Purpura.
"Dean was very small and I like the size of Bridgewater and like the community. Everybody is always out doing something. There's always events going on. After talking to Coach Purpura, he kind of sold me on it. After going to a couple of tennis practices, I just liked the camaraderie amongst all the girls and everyone was really welcoming."
So Silveira enrolled at BSU in the fall semester of 2020, when the world was in the middle of the COVID pandemic and students at the university could not live on campus.
By the fall semester of 2021, Silveira was on the Bears' women's tennis roster, part of a team that went 13-3 and lost in the Little East Conference final round.
She became a full-time singles play as a junior in 2022 and has been BSU's No. 2 singles player and part of the No. 1 double team in 2023 and 2024.
A graduate student, Silveira's career is winding down with the third-seeded Bears opening the Little East tournament at home Tuesday, facing sixth-seeded UMass Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round.
Silveira graduated with a degree in criminal justice in 2023 and is in her second year as a graduate student where she is focusing on victim and trauma studies.
She will begin a full-time job as a liaison and mental health specialist with the Providence Police Department in January and will complete her studies at BSU next spring.
The academic, social and athletic experiences Silveira has had at Bridgewater State following her transfer to Dean have made for a memorable time.
"I absolutely love Bridgewater," said Silveira. "It's funny. All the girls joke about me staying extra years (after getting an undergraduate degree) and I say I would honestly stay a couple more years if I could."
Silveira was 13-3 and 7-1 in the Little East playing mostly No. 3 doubles in 2021 and went 2-2 at Nos. 5 and 6 singles.
She played mostly No. 3 singles in 2022 and was 5-5 while posting a 10-4 record (6-2 in the Little East) at No. 2 doubles.
Last season is when Silveira was slotted at No. 2 singles where she was 8-6, including 5-3 in the Little East, and she paired with Madeline Von Ruden (Ashley Falls, Mass.) to go 4-4 in the conference at No. 1 doubles.
In this, her fourth and final season, Silveira is 6-4 and 5-2 in the Little East at No. 2 singles and is 8-2 with a 5-2 Little East record with Von Ruden at the top doubles slot.
Silveira is 38-20 (22-9 in the Little East) as a doubles player in her career and 21-17 (14-8 in the conference) playing singles.
"I think I've improved exponentially," said Silveira. "When I first got there, I was just kind of hitting the ball just to get it over, but now I feel I have some technique and can place the
ball when I have strength behind it. I definitely have improved a lot since sophomore year.
"I honestly didn't have many expectations coming in. I thought I was just going to come out and play and have a fun hit-around sometimes. After seeing the team and talking to coach about it, I just took it from there and took it year by year to see how much better I could get. I definitely exceeded any expectations that I had going in."
Purpura has watched Silveira improve her game after joining the program in the 2021 season, going from a player who had taken a year off to a solid No. 2 singles player who is a
consistent winner in doubles.
"She was a basketball kid when she arrived and tennis was her second sport," said Purpura. "She's really, really put in the work. You talk about an all-around awesome adult. Mackenzie has really stepped up. I can't say enough.
"She's in grad school, leading our practices and drills. Having Mackenzie for an extra year has been awesome. She's owned the No. 2 spot and is playing the best tennis of her life."
When Silveira graduated from Middletown High and started playing basketball and softball (for two games before COVID halted the 2020 season) at Dean, she figured the days of tennis were over.
But that all changed when he left Dean and went to Bridgewater State after a year.
"I would have told you coming out of high school basketball was my favorite," said Silveira. "I thought I was leaving tennis behind for basketball. Dean didn't have a tennis program, so I assumed I'd be playing basketball for four years.
"I realized I missed tennis. It definitely ranks as my favorite now. I like that it's individual, but it's also a team sport. I get rely on myself a lot, but at the same time, I'm contributing to a team as well."
Von Ruden, a senior, and Silveira have formed the No. 1 doubles team for two seasons, going 15-9, including 9-6 in the conference.
"Maddie and I have been super good friends," said Silveira. "That's a big part of why we're so good together on the court. We're able to ground each other and have fun out there and communicate really well while we're playing."
As part of her graduate studies, Silveira is working at a child advocacy center in New Bedford.
She works at an after-school program for children ages 6-12 who have behavioral and trauma issues.
The job that begins in January at the Providence Police Department will allow her to work with the mental health side of issues with victims.
"When I started to look into mental health, I found it super interesting the way victims are treated during the process," she said. "I wanted to find a job to do with that."
After the tennis season ends, Silveira will finish the fall semester studies, then begin a job working nights in Providence while also concluding her academics in the spring semester at BSU.
"I'm really excited to get started with the job," she said. "I'm going to be busy, but it'll be worth it."