BOSTON, Mass. – Tied for their best start in program history at 3-0, UMass Boston Women's Tennis made program history with their fourth consecutive win to open up the season, starting 4-0 for the first time since the program began in 1995. In resounding fashion, the Beacons defeated Little East Conference opponent Bridgewater State University, 8-1, on Tuesday afternoon at BC High Tennis Courts.

The win was UMass Boston's 18^th consecutive win at home dating back to the 2018 season, their longest home winning streak in program history.  

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 8, Bridgewater State University 1

UMass Boston (4-0, LEC 3-0)

Bridgewater State University (3-4, 2-2 LEC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

Faced with their toughest challenge yet, the Bears handed UMass Boston their first doubles loss of the season as graduate student Vanessa Rosa and sophomore Meghan Lotti defeated sophomore Elena Albano and senior Lia Vassiliadis in the #3 Doubles, 8-5.

The Beacons would enter singles with a 2-1 edge in the match as juniors Lydia Chan and Yana Semerly defeated sophomore Madeline Von Ruden and junior Abigail Ramer in the #1 Singles, 8-4, and the duo of freshman Ayra Shaikh and sophomore Ayonna Stuppard took down senior Mackenzie Silveira and junior Allison Carter by a final score of 8-6.

UMass Boston would sweep through the singles, but not without pushback from Bridgewater State who pushed two matches into the third set. In a #1 Singles thriller between Semerly and Von Ruden, it was Semerly outlasting the sophomore in two sets, 6-3 and 6-4.

Chan took care of business against Ramer in the #2 Singles with a 6-3 first set victory and clean 6-0 sweep of the second set while Shaikh continued to dominant her opponents with 6-1 and 6-0 victories over Silveria in the #3 Singles.

In a battle of athleticism, Albano avenged her 2021 loss to Rosa in the #4 Singles, winning the first set 6-2 before Rosa responded with a 6-3 victory in the second set. In the deciding set of the match, Albano took home a 10-6 win, giving the Beacons their fourth singles win.

The #5 Singles match went in favor of Stuppard over Carter in straight sets, with the sophomore winning 6-3 and 6-1 to maintain her perfect singles record with UMass Boston.

Lia Vassiliadis overcame her first set struggles against Lotti, dropping it 6-2, to come back with a 6-4 set two win and then a 10-5 victory in set three to finish off the Beacons' sweep of the singles matches.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Ayra Shaikh continues the hot start to her collegiate career, only dropping four points across eight sets played, Shaikh has won Rookie of the Week for the LEC twice this year
• As a team, the Beacons are 23-0 in singles matches this year and 10-1 in doubles, for a combined record of 33-1 this season
• The Beacons have started their season 4-0 for the first time in program history
• UMass Boston has now won 18 consecutive home matches dating back to the 2018 season, the longest streak in program history

 
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons play their second of three matches this week with a non-conference matchup against Roger Williams University on Thursday afternoon at 4:00 PM. This is a make-up match for UMass Boston after it was rained out on September 22^nd. The Hawks, as of today, sit at 8-0 on the season with a road match against Suffolk University on Wednesday before their matchup with the Beacons.