Men's Tennis Falls to #23 Skidmore in NCAA Tournament

By Jim Fenton

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- One of the most successful Bridgewater State University men's tennis seasons came to an end Friday afternoon.

The Bears were stopped in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament, losing to nationally ranked Skidmore College, 4-0, at Bowdoin College's Pickard Courts.

BSU finishes 12-5 after having a 10-match winning streak stopped by the Thoroughbreds (17-5).

Skidmore, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is ranked No. 23 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings and will face 12th-ranked Babson College (18-4) Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The Bears appeared in the NCAAs for the second time in program history. They lost to MIT, 5-0, in Middlebury, Vt., in 2024 in the first trip to the national tourney.

Skidmore (17-5), which won the Liberty League championship, won the first point of the day by winning the two completed doubles matches and clinched the victory with three straight-sets wins in singles.

The Thoroughbreds, winners off five matches in a row, is making its 13th appearance in the NCAAs.

The loss was the first for BSU since it was defeated by Roger Williams, 5-2, on March 31, in Bristol, R.I.

BSU's No. 1 doubles team of senior Adam Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and junior Khiem Nguyen (Burlington, Vt.) lost, 6-0, to juniors Yuval Goodman (Toronto, Ontario) and Harrison Gradin (Southampton, N.Y.).

The Bears' No. 3 team of juniors Tom Ayson (Plymouth, Mass.) and Anthony Lucas (Weymouth, Mass.) was defeated, 6-1, by freshman Ege Topbas (Istanbul, Turkey) and senior Kyle Lundberg (Manhattan Beach, Calif.).

In singles, Beatrice fell at No. 2 to Lundberg, 6-0, 6-0, while Ayson lost to Topbas at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1, and Lucas was defeated by senior Nika Mori (Kurashiki, Japan), 6-1, 6-0.

The doubles matches involving BSU's No. 2 duo of senior captain Ryan Hebert (Taunton, Mass.) and freshman Will Horton (Lakeville, Mass.) went unfinished as did the singles matches of Horton, Hebert and Nguyen.

BSU will lose senior captains Hebert and Beatrice plus Tyler Barros (Somerset, Mass.) to graduation.

Host Bowdoin (17-4, ranked seventh in the nation) will face Roger Williams (18-5) at noon on Saturday. Roger Williams advanced with a 4-1 victory over Farmingdale State on Friday while Bowdoin had a bye.