BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – In a rematch of last fall's Little East Conference title match, UMass Dartmouth prevailed again, with junior Molina Oung (Bourne, Mass.) prevailing in the No. 6 singles matchup to defeat Bridgewater State by a 5-4 score on Tuesday evening.
The Basics
Score: UMass Dartmouth 5, Bridgewater State 4
Records: UMass Dartmouth (4-1, 3-0 LEC) | Bridgewater State (3-2, 2-1 LEC)
How it Happened
The Corsairs started slowly, dropping two of the three doubles matchups to suffer an early deficit. The No. 2 combination of juniors Kerry Magoon (Marshfield, Mass.) and Mollie McCaffrey (Taunton, Mass.) fell 8-4, and senior Jillian Reichert (Marion, Mass.) and junior Kheyla Orival (Woburn, Mass.) dropped the third flight, 8-6.
Doubles ended on a momentum swinger, though, as the top flight of sophomore Jenna Lahaie (Lakeville, Mass.) and freshman Jaime Fastino (Rehoboth, Mass.) took an 8-5 victory heading into singles.
McCaffrey's singles win streak continued to start the Corsairs' resurgence, as she took the No. 3 flight 6-1, 6-0. She was followed by Lahaie, who downed her No. 1 opponent 6-4, 6-2 before Fastino was defeated 4-6, 2-6 at No. 4. At the fifth flight, junior Samantha Rollings (Tiverton, R.I.) took a 6-3, 6-2 victory, but Bridgewater State defeated Magoon in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 1-6 at No. 2 to bring the match back to even.
Oung then sealed the deal, roaring back from a 4-6 loss in the first set to win 10 straight games and take a dominating 6-0 second. She then closed the third in thrilling fashion, breaking serve of her Bear opponent in the last game with the score at 0-40 to secure a 6-4 third set and the Corsair team victory.
Inside the Numbers
- McCaffrey, the reigning LEC Player of the Week, extends her singles win streak to five matches, as she remains unbeaten on the season.
- Oung is also unbeaten at No. 6 thus far, with her only non-decision coming due to darkness against St. Joseph (Conn.) last week.
- The past three matches between the Corsairs and Bridgewater State have ended with 5-4 scores, with UMass Dartmouth winning the past two on the road; the last meeting was the 2015 conference championship.
- Fastino suffered just her first singles loss of the season, while she and Lahaie made their debut at the top doubles flight in winning fashion.
- UMass Dartmouth is 3-0 in league play for the first time since the fall of 2012.
Up Next
The Corsairs are idle until Saturday, when they make the short trip for the 33rd Annual Grass Court Doubles Tournament at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.
