Western Connecticut Whitewashed Salem St., 5-0

DANBURY, Conn. — The Western Connecticut State University men's tennis team advanced to the 2012 Little East Conference Tournament Semifinals following its 5-0 victory over Salem State University at Westside Courts on Wednesday afternoon.

The Colonials, 7-4 and seeded third for the tournament, raced out to a 3-0 advantage after sweeping the doubles' competitions.

Senior Troy Pandolfi (Danbury, Conn.) and Austin Werner (Fairfield, Conn.) gave Western a 1-0 lead after disposing of Rob Random (Newbury, Mass.) and Joshua Giller (Peabody, Mass.), 8-1 in the top pairs match.

Brian Bucknam (Woodbury, Conn.) and Ryan Klem (Newport, R.I.) edged Matt Lee (Pembroke, Mass.) and Eglis Bizhoti (Dorchester, Mass.), 8-6 minutes before senior Kyle Wilson (Naugatuck, Conn.) and Enea Dervishi (Waterbury, Conn.) defeated Kenny Hodgkins (Winthrop, Mass.) and J Jong Kim (Seoul, South Korea), 8-5.

In singles action, Pandolfi jumped out early and kept the pressure on Random before taking the number one solos' match, 6-1 and 6-2. Almost simultaneously, Dervishi put Hodgkins away, 6-3 and 6-3 at sixth singles.

Salem State, the tournament's sixth seed, ends the season with a 6-10 overall record.

Western has to ready itself immediately, due to the rain out on Tuesday, for second seeded Bridgewater State University. The Little East semifinals begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday (May 3).

(Information obtained from Western Connecticut sports information)