Down in Florida for their annual Spring Break trip, the Hillsdale College men's tennis team faced off against one of the top squads in the country at the NCAA DII level in host and third-ranked Saint Leo on Sunday.
And in a matchup with some of the nation's best, Hillsdale's own nationally-ranked player stepped up in a big way.
In the feature match of the day, Charger sophomore Brennan Cimpeanu, the 18th-ranked singles player at the NCAA DII level, upset the Lions' 13th-ranked singles player, Bruno Faletto, rallying from a 6-1 set one defeat to win 6-1, 10-8 in the final two sets at No. 1 singles for the Chargers.
It's the latest in a season's worth of strong showings for Cimpeanu, who is 4-2 against top 50 ranked players at the DII level in singles this season, including victories over sixth-ranked Marko Nikoliuk of Southern Arkansas and 35th-ranked Sylvain Garin-Michaud of Drury in the fall, and it will surely keep him on the minds of the ITA voters doing the rankings moving forward.
Hillsdale's other players battled hard but were ultimately unable to match the depth and talent of a legitimate national title contender, and likely the best team the Chargers will face in 2021-22. Sophomore Daniel Gilbert put up the toughest fight at No. 4 singles, falling 6-2, 6-2 to Ghali Mensour of Saint Leo, and sophomore Sean Barstow took three games off Saint Leo's other ranked player, 30th ranked Vincent Thiel, in a 6-1, 6-2 loss at No. 3 singles.
The Chargers also put up a tough fight at No. 2 doubles, as Hillsdale's team of Cimpeanu and Gilbert pushed St. Leo's team of Thiel and Brad Eidenmuller to the edge in a 7-5 loss.
Hillsdale is now 4-6 overall and completes its Florida trip on Monday with another tough match against a solid Florida Southern squad at 3:30 p.m.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan