BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State won two of three doubles matches and three singles flights as the third-seeded Bears downed #6 UMass Dartmouth, 5-1, in Little East Conference Men's Tennis Tournament quarterfinal round action on Thursday afternoon in Bridgewater.
Bridgewater (9-6) will advance to the tournament semifinals as the Bears will take on second-seeded Salem State College on Friday at 3:30 in Salem. UMass completes the 2010 season with a record of 5-6.
Today's match originally began on Tuesday afternoon but was suspended in the middle of doubles play with Bridgewater leading 1-0 thanks to an 8-0 second flight victory by BSC's tandem of freshman Matt Mailhot (Oxford, MA) and sophomore Mike Zagame (Uxbridge, MA).
After play resumed this afternoon, the two teams exchanged doubles wins. UMass Dartmouth's number one pairing of senior Ken Sims (Chelmsford, MA) and freshman Mike Parker (Scituate, MA) posted an 8-6 decision, while sophomore Adam Laithy (North Smithfield, MA) and junior Nicholas Amrose (Arlington, MA) triumphed, 8-5, at number three for Bridgewater State.
With a 2-1 advantage after doubles play, Bridgewater needed just three singles victories to win the match. Laithy, Zagame and Amrose all won in straight sets at the third, fourth and fifth flights respectively to secure the tournament victory for the Bears.
The other three singles flights were unfinished as the match was stopped, per tournament rules, once Bridgewater reached five points.