GORHAM, Maine -- Junior Tyler Adams (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and senior Scott Gagne (Lewiston, Maine) set the tone early earning an 8-0 win at first doubles as the top-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies downed fifth-seeded Rhode Island College Anchormen 5-0 in the semifinal round of the 2015 Little East Conference Championship Thursday afternoon at the Gorham High School Tennis Courts.
Southern Maine, which finished the regular season undefeated in the Little East at 6-0, earned the first round bye as the top seed in the tournament. RIC upset fourth-seeded Salem State 5-4 on Tuesday to advance to the semifinal round. Defeating the Anchormen, Southern Maine snapped up its ninth consecutive victory to improve to 11-2 overall and advance to the 2015 Little East Conference Championship. The Huskies, the defending 2014 LEC champions, will face second-seeded UMass Dartmouth on Saturday (1:00 p.m.). UMass Dartmouth advanced with a 5-4 win over third-seeded UMass Boston in the other semifinal round. RIC concludes its season with a 4-10 record.
Adams and Gagne recorded the first points of the match defeating the RIC tandem of junior Tim Holzinger (Foster, R.I./Ponaganset) and sophomore Seongkyeon Kim (North Providence, R.I.) 8-0 at the top of the doubles flight. Southern Maine went on to take a 3-0 lead following doubles action as senior Thaddeus St. John (Weld, Maine/Mt. Blue) and sophomore Kyle Curley (Gorham, Maine) and juniors Eric Berry-Sandelin (South Portland, Maine) and Sebastian Taylor (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) claimed wins at second and third doubles respectively. St. John and Curley defeated RIC's freshmen Lee Tiberi (Smithfield, R.I.) and Josh Pimental (Smithfield, R.I.) 8-2, while Berry-Sandelin and Taylor worked their way to an 8-6 win over sophomores Brett Taggert (North Kingstown, R.I.) and Chris Klawitter (Brooklyn, Conn./Killingly).
In singles action, Adams and St. John claimed the Huskies' fourth and deciding fifth points respectively. Adams dispatched Holzinger 6-0, 6-0 at first singles, while St. John downed Tiberi in similar fashion 6-0, 6-0 to claim the win.
The winner of the 2015 Little East Conference Tournament Championship will earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. Southern Maine has won the LEC team title in 2014 and 2007. In the 2007 NCAA tourney, the Huskies' defeated Ithaca College to secure the program's first NCAA win and advanced to the second round before falling to Middlebury, 5-0. Southern Maine previously faced UMass Dartmouth in the regular season on the road and earned an 8-1 victory. In 2014, Southern Maine defeated UMD in the semifinals of the tournament 5-1, before defeating UMass Boston 5-1 for the title.
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