Men's Tennis Advances to Little East Tournament Title Match

DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- Second-seeded Bridgewater State University edged number three seed Western Connecticut State University, 5-4, in the semifinal round of the 2012 Little East Conference Men's Tennis Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Dartmouth Indoor Tennis Club.

With the win, the Bears (9-5) advance to the tournament championship match on Saturday versus top-seeded UMass Dartmouth.  UMass posted a 5-1 semifinal win over the University of Southern Maine on Thursday.  Western Connecticut ends the season with a record of 7-5.

The match came down to the final singles flight as sophomore Cody Farrell (Scituate, Mass.) battled back from a set down at number five to record a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory and give Bridgewater the 5-4 win.

The Bears led 2-1 after the doubles matches with freshman Sean Bleau (North Dighton, Mass.) and sophomore Jesse Gotlib (Dartmouth, Mass.) picking up a 9-7 triumph at the second flight, and Farrell and junior Nicholas Desisto (Uxbridge, Mass.) grabbing an 8-3 decision at number three.  Seniors Troy Pandolfi (Danbury, Conn.) and Austin Werner (Fairfield, Conn.) earned the Colonials' lone doubles point with an 8-4 victory at the first flight.

Western Connecticut won each of the first three singles flights to take a 4-2 lead highlighted by 6-1, 6-0 straight set decision by Pandolfi at the top spot.

Down by two points with three singles matches remaining, Bridgewater received straight set wins by Gotlib at number four and Desisto at the sixth flight before Farrell gave the Bears the deciding fifth point.