Playing at a level the Hillsdale College men's tennis team has never experienced before, Charger sophomores Brennan Cimpeanu and Sean Barstow held their own against the best players in Division II over the weekend at the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia.
In singles and doubles action at the Rome Tennis Center from Thursday through Sunday, Cimpeanu and Barstow competed for national championships, and while neither were the eventual victors, they proved they belonged at an elite level and came away with plenty of momentum to build off of for the spring seasons.
In singles play, Cimpeanu, the Midwest Regional champion, pulled off a stunning upset in his first match, beating third-seeded Marko Nikoliuk of Southern Arkansas. Nikoliuk, the Central region champion and a 2019-20 All-American who finished sixth in the 2019 ITA Cup, tested Cimpeanu early, but the Hillsdale sophomore outdueled him in a tight tiebreak to take the first set 7-6 (6), then used the momentum to take the second set 6-3 and secure a spot in the final eight.
Cimpeanu's main bracket run ended with a quarterfinal loss to Alex Martinez Roca of Midwestern St., 6-1, 6-3, and the sophomore also lost a hard-fought consolation match to Ouachita Baptist's Francisco Oliviera 7-6 (8), 6-3 to finish tied for seventh place in the ITA Cup DII singles draw standings. But for Cimpeanu, a player who's just barely into his second season of collegiate tennis, a victory over a seeded player at the national tournament and another competitive match against a top talent is proof that he can play with the best players NCAA DII has to offer, and will continue to be a contender in coming years as he continues to improve and develop.
In doubles action, Cimpeanu teamed with Barstow for three matches. The pair had an extremely difficult opening draw against the fourth-seeded team from Valdosta St. of Luca Mack and Rodrigo Carvalho on Thursday. Despite an uphill battle, Cimpeanu and Barstow pushed the Valdosta St. pair to the limits, coming up just short in a hotly contested 7-5, 6-4 match. Mack and Carvalho would go on to upset the top seeded team in the semifinals and finish as the ITA Cup runners-up.
Playing in consolation action on Friday, Cimpeanu and Barstow played another extremely tight match against a familiar opponent, the Davenport team of Jonathan Bulmer and Juan-Louis van Antwerpen that knocked off the Chargers in the ITA Midwest Regional Doubles final. After losing in straight sets to Bulmer and van Antwerpen in September, Cimpeanu and Barstow closed the gap even further against the two, battling back from a 6-3 first set loss to take the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (5). Ultimately, the Davenport pair would come out on top in the third-set tiebreak, 10-8, to advance by the slimmest of margins.
With one final match on Saturday, Cimpeanu and Barstow refused to leave Rome, Georgia empty-handed. Up against Mercyhurst's David Akinpetide and Milan Jankovic, the Charger pair dominated, rolling to a 6-3, 6-3 straight-set win to close out the ITA Cup with a victory and secure a tie for 13th place.
The event was a special trip for the two Hillsdale players, who accomplished something that had never been done before in program history just by setting foot in the Rome Tennis Center to play in the ITA Cup. Even more than that, with two victories and three more close matches, both sophomores proved they're capable of matching up and competing with the best tennis players in the country at the NCAA Division II level.
That experience should give both players great confidence heading into the winter break and preparing for the spring season to come, where the Chargers have their sights set on a second-straight G-MAC title and a return to the NCAA tournament. Cimpeanu, Barstow and Hillsdale will kick off the spring season on Friday, Feb. 4 with a match against Lawrence Tech at Franklin Racket Club in Southfield, Michigan.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan