Men's Tennis Downs Suffolk, 6-3

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team posted a 6-3 victory over visiting Suffolk University on Thursday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

The host Bears improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Rams fall to 1-2. The two teams were meeting for the first time since 2019 due to the pandemic. Bridgewater has now won each of the last four matches versus Suffolk.

Bridgewater State captured two of the three doubles matches and four of the six singles flights to secure the non-conference win. All four singles wins for the Bears came in straight sets.

In doubles play, seniors Colin Lamusta (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Jeff Pavao (Somerset, Mass.) teamed up for an 8-3 win at the top spot for the Bears, while seniors Sean Nutter (Mattapoisett, Mass.) and Kendan Ziegler (Hadley, N.Y.) recorded an 8-2 triumph at the second flight.

Seniors Ben Bricker (Los Angeles, Cali.) and Haik Semerdjian (Farmington, Conn.) got the Rams on the board with an 8-4 victory at third doubles.

Ziegler opened singles play with a 6-2, 6-2 win at number three. Pavao then wrapped up his first flight match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory. Classmate Darius Desnoes (Ithaca, N.Y.) secured the decisive fifth point for the Bears with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph at number five. Nutter notched the Bears' final point with a 6-3, 6-4 decision at the fourth spot.

Junior Dylan Katz (Lincoln, R.I.) and sophomore Matthew Gallego (Revere, Mass.) picked up the two singles points for the Rams. Katz battled back from set down to win at the second flight, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5. Gallego also bounced back after losing his opening set to triumph at number six, 3-6, 6-3, 10-3.

Both teams open conference play on Saturday at noon. The Bears entertain Little East Conference (LEC) rival UMass Boston, while the Rams head to Western New England University for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match with the Golden Bears.