BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Boston men's tennis (5-6, 2-1 Little East) bounced back with a decisive 7-2 victory Saturday afternoon over Bridgewater State University (2-6, 0-1 Little East) Saturday afternoon in a Little East Conference Semifinal rematch.
All four of the Beacons top players finished 2-0 on the day, as UMass Boston extended their winning streak to three in a row against the Bears. The two teams met twice last year with the Beacons winning both times, including a 5-1 victory in the Little East Conference Tournament Semifinals. The Beacons were playing their first match since seeing their four-game unbeaten streak and 10-game conference winning streak come to an end Thursday.
UMass Boston opened the match with a dominant 8-1 victory at number one doubles, as Sean Cullen (Medway, Mass.) and Charles Lai (Boston, Mass.) defeated Eric Johnson and Hung Huynh.
The Beacons pulled out a victory at number two doubles as well, as Eglis Bizhoti (Kucovë, Albania) and Mark Grinhaus (Scarsdale, N.Y.) pulled away for an easy 8-4 victory over Jesse Gotlib and Matt McGee.
Bridgewater State cut the deficit to 2-1 after doubles play, when the Bears pair of Cody Farrell and Michael Mello defeated Jack Wang (Suzhou, China) and Lyle Analetto (Belmont, Mass.) 8-4 at third-flight doubles.
That would be as close as the Bears would get all afternoon, as UMass Boston proceeded to win the first five singles match, to cruise to a 7-2 win.
Bizhoti played one of his best matches of the year at third-flight singles, as he knocked off Huynh 6-0, 6-0.
Cullen pushed the Beacons lead to 4-1, when he earned a 7-5, 6-1 over Gotlib at top-flight singles.
The Beacons clinched the victory at number two singles, as Lai cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Farrell.
UMass Boston kept the momentum going moments later, when Grinhaus closed out a 6-2, 6-4 victory at number four singles over Johnson.
Wang secured UMass Boston's seventh and final point with a win at number five singles. The Beacons freshman earned a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 victory over McGee, for his second collegiate singles victory.
The Bears closed out the match with their second point of the day, as Mello earned a 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 victory at sixth-flight singles.
UMass Boston will have a few days off, before the Beacons travel to Babson Park to take on Babson College Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.
