Little East Women's Tennis Award Winners Announced
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Two sophomore members of the Bridgewater State University women's tennis team have each received a pair of Little East Conference honors.
By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Two sophomore members of the Bridgewater State University women's tennis team have each received a pair of Little East Conference honors.
Aislyn Kelliher (Plymouth, Mass.) and Morgan Smith (Taunton, Mass.) were named to the All-Little East singles team as well as the all-conference doubles team.
Kelliiher made the first team and Smith the second team in singles while the duo was chosen to the second team in doubles.
The duo combined to go 11-3 against Little East singles opponents.
In addition, senior captain Hannah Higgins (Rockland, Mass.) was picked to the Little East Sportsmanship Team.
The Bears went 7-1 in the Little East to finish second behind undefeated Rhode Island College.
BSU (9-5) lost to defending champion UMass Boston, 4-3, in the tournament semifinal round.
Kelliher was 6-7 overall and 5-2 in the Little East in singles play. She was 5-7 at No. 2 singles and 1-0 at No. 1 singles.
Smith was 8-5 overall and 6-1 in the Little East in singles matches. She was 6-5 at No. 3 singles and 2-0 at No. 2 singles.
In doubles, Kelliher and Smith played No. 1 and went 3-0 in the Little East and 4-4 overall.
As freshmen in 2024, Kelliher and Smith played No. 2 doubles and went 9-2, including 6-1 in the conference.
Kelliher was 12-1 and 8-0 in the Little East in 2024 playing primarily No. 4 singles. Smith played only two singles matches as a freshman, winning both in the conference.
Higgins played against Western Connecticut State in her lone appearance and won in singles, 6-1, 6-4, and doubles, 6-0.
RIC won its sixth conference tournament title in nine years and 12th overall, defeating UMass Boston, 4-2.
Zainab Patel of UMass Boston was chosen the Little East Singles Player of the Years while RIC's Erica Botelho and Haylie Peacock are the Doubles Team of the Year.
RIC, which went 15-0, also earned two other awards. Faith Owren is the Rookie of the Year while Adam Spring is the Coach of the Year.