Women's Tennis Posts 6-1 LEC Win Over UMass Dartmouth

By Jim Fenton

DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's tennis team handed the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth its first Little East Conference loss Saturday.

The Bears won all three doubles matches en route to a 6-1 victory over the Corsairs. It is the seventh straight win over UMass Dartmouth for BSU.

The Bears, who ended UMass Boston's 26-match Little East winning streak earlier in the week, are now 6-4 and 4-1 in the conference. BSU is riding a four-match winning streak.

UMass Dartmouth fell to 7-3 and is 4-1 in the Little East after having a three-match winning streak halted.

BSU and UMass Dartmouth are tied for second place in the Little East behind Rhode Island College (4-0).

The Bears' No. 1 doubles deal of sophomore Aislyn Kelliher (Plymouth, Mass.) and sophomore Morgan Smith (Taunton, Mass.) defeated freshman Mya Dean (Middleboro, Mass.) and freshman Gianna Doiron (Tewksbury, Mass.), 6-1.

No. 2 doubles went to BSU sophomore Emma Gibney (New Bedford, Mass.) and sophomore Sarah Pothier (Rochester, Mass.) over senior Zuri Walters (Dorchester, Mass.) and junior Saige Croce (Willow Grove, Pa.), 6-0.

The Bears' duo of junior Samantha Bettencourt (Tiverton, R.I.) and junior Fiona Clancy (Middleboro, Mass.) defeated sophomore Alyson Tobias (Hanson, Mass.) and freshman Ava Aguiar (Berkley, Mass.) at No. 3 doubles, 6-0.

Kelliher posted a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles over Dean while Smith was a 7-5, 6-3 winner at No. 3 singles over junior Sofia Beltran (New Bedford, Mass.).

At No. 4 singles, Pothier prevailed over Tobias, 6-0, 6-0, while sophomore Ava Alves (Taunton, Mass.) scored a 6-1, 6-3 win over Doiron at No. 5 singles.

Bettencourt was a 6-1, 6-2 winner at No. 6 singles over graduate student Kayli Langan (Lakewood, Colo.).

The lone UMass Dartmouth win was at No. 1 singles with Walters defeating Gibney, 6-3, 6-3.

The Bears will host Senior Day on Wednesday when they face Western Connecticut State at 3 p.m.

UMass Dartmouth hosts Salve Regina at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

Notes: Alves is now 8-1 on the season and a perfect 5-0 against Little East opponents....The doubles tandem of Bettencourt and Clancy inproved to 6-1 on the year and 5-0 in the LEC.