Men's Tennis Drops Little East Opener to Western Connecticut, 6-3

DANBURY, Conn. -- The Western Connecticut State University defeated Bridgewater State University, 6-3 on Thursday in the Little East Conference opener for both teams at the Westside Tennis Courts.

The visiting Bears (0-4, 0-1 LEC) led 2-1 after the doubles competition.

Bridgewater State won at top flight doubles when Sean Bleau (North Dighton, Mass.) and Michael Delisle (Berkley, Mass.) defeated Jason Hipona (Orange, Conn.) and Daniel Winter (New Milford, Conn.), 8-2.

BSU's second doubles pairing of Justin Haley (South Yarmouth, Mass.) and Jacob Frazee (Yarmouth, Mass.) edged Adam Howard (Waterford, Conn.) and Benjamin Cortez (Danbury, Conn.), 9-7.

At third flight pairs, Western Connecticut's Romney Tiru (Waterbury, Conn.) and Matthew O'Keefe (Cromwell, Conn.) won 8-4.

In singles competition, Bleau continued his strong play as he posted a 6-1, 6-4 decision at the top flight.  That, however, would be the only singles point for the Bears.

Adam Howard (Waterford, Conn.) made his Western debut winning, 6-1, 6-2 at third singles. Tiru, Cortez, Winter and Jeffrey Hensley (Naugatuck, Conn.) also won in straight sets for the Colonials in singles play.

Western (2-0, 1-0 LEC) next visits John Jay on Friday, and resumes conference play on Saturday at UMass Boston. Matches are slated to begin at 4 and 1 pm, respectively. Bridgewater State is off until next Tuesday afternoon when the Bears entertain non-conference foe Curry College at three.