Women's Tennis Falls to RIC in LEC Tournament Semifinals

By Jim Fenton

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Bridgewater State University women's tennis season came to an end on Thursday afternoon.

The third-seeded Bears were eliminated from the Little East Conference tournament in the semifinal round by second-seeded Rhode Island College, 5-0, at the RIC Tennis Center.

BSU, which had a three-match winning streak stopped, finishes the season 10-4.

RIC (15-1) advances to the Little East championship round for the ninth consecutive season.

The Anchorwomen will face the top-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston (12-2) for the title and a berth in the NCAA Division 3 tournament next spring on Saturday.

The Beacons won the other semifinal match, 5-0, over Plymouth State on Thursday.

UMass Boston defeated RIC in the final the past two seasons. The Anchorwomen have won a record 11 Little East tournament championships, including five in a row from 2017-21.

BSU also lost to RIC in the regular season, dropping an 8-1 decision on the road on Sept. 7.

The Anchorwomen took the semifinal-round match by prevailing in all three doubles matchups and two singles matches.

At No. 1 doubles, fifth-year senior Lauren Macera (Cranston, R.I.) and junior Erica Botelho (Greenville, R.I.) defeated BSU senior Madeline Von Ruden (Ashley Falls, Mass.) and graduate student Mackenzie Silveira (Middletown, Mass.), 8-1.

The RIC No. 2 doubles team of freshman Emilia Houwers (Whitewater, Wis.) and freshman Haylie Peacock (West Gardiner, Maine) won over the Bears' rookie tandem of Morgan Smith (Taunton, Mass.) and Aislyn Kelliher (Plymouth, Mass.), 8-3.

The No. 3 doubles match went to fifth-year senior Amiah Sommer (Cumberland, R.I.) and senior Amara Devine (Greenville, R.I.), who stopped Meghan Lotti (Stoneham, Mass.) and sophomore Samantha Bettencourt (Tiverton, R.I.), 8-6, in the closest match of the day.

Peacock won at No. 4 singles, defeating freshman Sarah Pothier (Rochester, Mass.), 6-2, 6-0, to give the hosts a 4-0 lead. Devine then secured the decisive fifth point with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Bettencourt.

Von Ruden led at first singles, 6-3, 1-0, when the match ended.

Botelho, freshman Arianna De Thomas (Providence, R.I.) and Sommer were each up a set for the Anchorwomen at second, third and fifth singles, respectively.

The Bears have a pair of seniors, Von Ruden at No. 1 singles, and Lotti at No. 3 singles , on the roster along with graduate student Silveira, the No. 2 singles player.

RIC and BSU met for the ninth time in the Little East tournament with the Bears' lone wins coming in 2008, 2013 and 2016. The Anchorwomen have four straight tourney victories over BSU.