BRIDGEWATER, Mass.—In a rematch of the 2014 Little East Conference Semifinals, third-seeded UMass Boston men's tennis (6-10) needed just 90 minutes, to dispatch sixth-seeded Western Connecticut State University (3-9) by a 5-0 score in the Little East Conference Quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon.
With their victory, UMass Boston will travel to second-seeded UMass Dartmouth on Thursday at a time to be announced for the LEC Semifinals. The two teams faced on in the 2013 Little East Conference Finals, with UMass Boston edging the Corsairs by a 5-4 score.
Western Connecticut State University traveled with just five players and automatically started the match trailing 2-0, as they had to forfeit at third doubles and sixth singles.
The Beacons took advantage of the two early points, as the Beacons came out aggressive and dropped just three games between the two doubles matches and the only completed singles match. With the win, UMass Boston earned their fifth-straight win over the Colonials and improved to 2-0 all-time against Western Connecticut State in tournament play, after winning 5-0 in last year's semifinal round.
Tuesday's victory also signified the first time in program history that the Beacons had earned a playoff victory in three successive seasons.
Senior Charles Lai (Boston, Mass.) improved to 9-2 all-time in LEC postseason play, as he was the lone Beacons to earn two victories. After dropping his first two postseason matches as a freshman, Lai has gone 9-0 over the past three seasons, including a perfect 5-0 mark in doubles play.
Lai teamed up with sophomore Jack Wang (Suzhou, China) for a win at number one singles, as the pair cruised to an 8-1 win over Romney Tiru and Jeffrey Hensley.
Greg Fleming (Harwich Port, Mass.) and Austin DeLasse (Shrewsbury, Mass.) only needed one extra game to make it 4-0, as the pair grabbed an 8-2 victory at second doubles over Jason Hipona and Daniel Winter.
Lai was clearly a man on a mission in singles play, as the senior captain swept Tiru 6-0, 6-0 to earn his 95th career victory.
In the other four doubles matches that went unfinished, UMass Boston held an edge in three of the four contests.
DeLasse and Wang each led by a set at second and third doubles, while Fleming was ahead 5-2 over Adam Howard at fourth-flight singles.
In the final match going on, Hensley led UMass Boston's Wyatt Towle (Woburn, Mass.) by a 4-3 score.
Western Connecticut State sees their season come to an end with a 3-9 mark and 1-5 record in conference play.
