The Hillsdale College women's tennis team nearly pulled an upset of a strong Midwest Regional opponent, Northwood, on Sunday at home, but the Chargers couldn't quite get past the Timberwolves in a 4-3 defeat.
The Chargers had opportunities that could have flipped the match at multiple singles positions, but Northwood fought off the Chargers in all instances to hold on to a very slim lead and pull out the victory.
Hillsdale opened the day with a strong start, securing all three flights to take the doubles point. The Chargers' No. 1 doubles team of Sarah Hackman and Melanie Zampardo, and its No. 2 doubles team of Canela Luna and Sophia Spinazze both won 6-4 victories, while Hillsdale's No. 3 doubles pairing of Libby McGivern and Ellie Chawner took a 7-1 tiebreak to pull out a 7-6 victory as well.
In singles action, Luna and Spinazze delivered two of the three victories Hillsdale needed, with Luna taking a 6-1, 7-5 win over Sanvi Ahluwalia at No. 4 singles, and Spinazze picking up a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 5 singles.
The final victory, however, proved elusive. Hillsdale's Sarah Hackman forced a very tough opponent, Northwood's Elizaveta Velichko, to tiebreaks in both sets at No. 1 singles, but came up just short in both tiebreaks in a loss by the narrowest of margins. Meanwhile, No. 6 singles player Ellie Chawner pulled out a hard-fought tiebreak of her own in the first set to win 7-6 for Hillsdale, but Ekaterina Vorobeva of Northwood battled back to win 6-4, 6-2 in the final two sets.
Those two victories, along with Northwood wins at No. 2 and no. 3 singles, gave the Timberwolves just enough points to escape Hillsdale with a victory.
While the close loss stings for Hillsdale, strong play on Sunday against a tough opponent will give the Chargers confidence with G-MAC play just around the corner. First, however, Hillsdale hosts Lake Superior State on Saturday, March 5 at 9 a.m. for its next match.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan