2018 Great Midwest All-Conference Women's Tennis Release
The path to a spot as lofty as conference player of the year is rarely a smooth one. Adversity must be overcome, and tough opponents must be defeated, even if that opponent lies within.
Halle Hyman overcame every challenge to turn in an historic 2017-18 season, and Thursday night, she earned prestigious recognition for doing so.
Hyman, a junior, was named the 2018 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year at a banquet event held at Kentucky Wesleyan College the night before tournament competition begins.
But she was far from the only Charger recognized for their outstanding season. Head coach Nikki Walbright was named the 2018 G-MAC Coach of the Year, while Hannah Cimpeanu was named the 2018 G-MAC Freshman of the Year.
The three awards represents a clean sweep of G-MAC individual awards for 2017-18 in women's tennis for Hillsdale College.
Hyman took over the No. 1 singles spot for the Chargers and won seven straight matches – all in G-MAC play – to end the regular season. She has a 22-9 overall record heading into postseason play and improved everything about her game in her third season at Hillsdale. Her quickness, power and confidence proved to be an unbeatable combination in her, and her team's, first season in the G-MAC.
Cimpeanu stepped right into the lineup and became a difference-maker for the Chargers in her rookie season. She buzzed through the competition in the upper half of the singles flights with an 11-2 record, and was 13-3 in doubles competition. Her combined overall record of 24-5 stands as easily the best single-season winning percentage for any Charger player since the program was revived prior to the 2011-12 season.
This is Walbright's second conference coach of the year honor, as a trophy from 2017-18 will now sit along side her GLIAC Coach of the Year honor from the 2012-13 school year. She led Hillsdale – a roster with no seniors – to a 7-0 G-MAC record and a program-high ranking of sixth in the Midwest Region and 47th in all of NCAA Division II. Hillsdale's G-MAC regular season championship was its first such title since 1983 and second in school history.
Hillsdale had exactly half of the First-Team All-Conference slots. Hyman and Cimpeanu were joined by sophomore Katie Bell and junior Madeline Bissett was first-teamers in the G-MAC this season. This is the third time in three seasons Hyman has earned First-Team All-Conference honors, while Bell adds a second all-conference award to her resume, with this being the first First-Team honor.
For Bissett and Cimpeanu, these awards are the first time they've earned all-conference recognition in their careers. Bissett has won 11 straight doubles matches and has a combined record of 25-6 this season.
Sophomore Kamryn Matthews, a dominant player in her flights in both singles and doubles play, was named Second-Team All-Conference. Matthews enters the postseason with a combined record of 24-6 this season.