Men's Tennis Blanks Salem State, 9-0

MANCHESTER BY The SEA, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team remained unbeaten in Little East Conference (LEC) play with a 9-0 victory over defending LEC champion Salem State University on Wednesday night at the Manchester Tennis Club.

The Bears improve to 5-4 on the season and perfect 5-0 in the Little East as they clinched a share of the LEC regular season title and the top seed in next week's Little East Tournament. The Vikings fall to 5-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play with the setback.

Bridgewater defeated Salem for the first time since 2017 as the Vikings had won each of the last eight meetings.

The Bears swept the three doubles matches and each of the six singles flights.

In doubles play, Adam Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and Tom Ayson (Plymouth, Mass.) teamed up for an 8-2 decision over the Vikings' top pairing of Cory Cherico (Winthrop, Mass.) and Mark Wood (Lynn, Mass.). Ryan Hebert (Taunton, Mass.) and Filippo Mucci (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) also recorded and 8-2 win at the third spot while Robby Cooney (Plymouth, Mass.) and Matthew Krampf (Littleton, Mass.) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-5 victory at the second flight.

The Bears' top flight duo of Beatrice and Ayson is 4-0 in LEC competition.

Cooney, Beatrice, Ayson, Krampf, Hebert and Tyler Barros (Somerset, Mass.) all won in straight sets for the Bears in singles competition.

Cooney earned a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Quentin Wilkins (Hamilton, Mass.) in the battle of the top flight players as he improved to 5-2 on the season in singles play with a perfect 3-0 mark against Little East opponents.

Beatrice won 6-2, 6-2 at the second flight while Ayson held off Wood at number three, 6-2, 7-6, with the second set being settled in a tiebreaker, 7-3.

Krampf won his fourth straight LEC singles match with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at the fourth spot. Hebert posted a 6-2, 6-1 decision at number five, and Barros breezed to a 6-1, 6-0 win at the sixth flight. Barros is 3-0 against Little East foes.

The Bears wrap up conference play on Saturday when they host UMass Boston at noon. Bridgewater can capture the LEC regular season title outright with a win over the Beacons. The Vikings travel to Curry College on Friday for a 3:30 match with the Colonels.