By Jim Fenton

GORHAM, Maine -- The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team opened the Little East Conference schedule with a road victory Saturday afternoon.

The Bears defeated the University of Southern Maine, 8-1, at the Costello Field House to break a three-match losing streak.

BSU is now 2-3 overall while Southern Maine is 1-3. The Bears have six straight wins over the Huskies in the series. Bridgewater is 11-8 versus Southern Maine since the Bears joined the Little East in 2005.

BSU, the defending Little East champion, took a 3-0 lead by winning all of the doubles matches.

Junior Tom Ayson (Plymouth, Mass.) and sophomore Khiem Nguyen (Burlington, Vt.) prevailed at No. 1 doubles, 8-4, over Southern Maine seniors Jaden Parker (Portland, Maine) and Zac Howe (Arundel, Maine).

At No. 2 doubles, junior Adam Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and senior Matthew Krampf (Littleton, Mass.) won over seniors Azam Jiwa (Calgary, Alberta) and Zach Desmarais (St. Cyrille, Quebec), 8-4.

Sophomore Anthony Lucas (Weymouth, Mass.) and junior Ryan Hebert (Taunton, Mass.) won at No. 3 doubles, 8-2, over junior Landon Weaver (Bowdoinham, Maine) and freshman Charlie Bitar (Perry, Maine).

Ayson took No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-3, over Jiwa while Nguyen was a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Desmarais at No. 3 singles.

Krampf took No. 4 singles, defeating Howe, 6-3, 6-2, while freshman Tyler Rocchio (Attleboro, Mass.) was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Weaver at No. 5 singles. Lucas won at No. 6 singles, 8-1, over Bitar.

The lone Southern Maine win came from Parker at No. 1 singles as he downed Beatrice in a very tightly-contested match, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (10-8).

The Bears are right back in action Sunday at 1 p.m. when they face Vermont State Castleton in another Little East matchup.

The match will take place at the Marion Indoor Tennis Club due to the weather.

Southern Maine travels to Thomas for a non-conference matchup Wednesday at 4 p.m.