Brennan Cimpeanu had one of the best performances by a freshman in the Hillsdale College men's tennis program's history last season.
If the first weekend of the new season is any indication, he's ready for even bigger things this year.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference office announced that Cimpeanu was the G-MAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week, in recognition of a sterling performance at the 2021 Charger Invitational this past weekend.
Cimpeanu went a perfect 6-0 and won both the singles and doubles titles in the highest-caliber flight in the event, overcoming strong competition from G-MAC rivals Findlay and Tiffin, as well as the top players from a loaded Wayne State squad.
The sophomore partnered with Sean Barstow in doubles, winning three straight matches and defeating both of the Warriors' top two doubles teams to claim the title in the A draw. Cimpeanu and Barstow took an 8-4 victory over Wayne State's Cedric Drenth and Daniel Grey in the championship match to secure the crown.
In singles, Cimpeanu rolled past Wilfredo Lara of Findlay in the opening round, then knocked off Wayne St.'s No. 2 singles player, Grey, in a hard fought 6-3, 6-7 (6), 10-7 victory in the semifinal before beating the Warriors' No. 1 singles player, Dom Spicer, 7-5, 6-2 in the final.
Cimpeanu is now 39-8 for his Charger career following this weekend. The sophomore is building off a 2020-21 campaign where he won G-MAC Freshman of the Year honors and helped lead Hillsdale to a conference championship and the program's first-even NCAA Tournament berth.
The Chargers next travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan to play in the ITA Midwest Regional tournament on Sept. 24-26, where Cimpeanu will be looking to leave his mark against a field that includes almost all of the region's top singles players.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan