Just shy of six months ago, the Hillsdale College men's tennis team's 2019-20 season was brought to an abrupt halt by the Covid-19 pandemic, and never resumed.
It's been a long and challenging wait for the Chargers, but on Sunday, Sept. 13, the Hillsdale men's tennis team will hit the courts for outside competition for the first time since that March 13 day where its season was halted.
The Chargers will host Great Midwest Athletic Conference foes Findlay, Tiffin and Walsh in an all-day home tournament beginning at 9 a.m.
The four squads have occupied the top spots in the G-MAC standings in each of the last two full conference seasons, and are expected to be the top contenders for the conference title in the 2021 season, making this a good test of where Hillsdale stands after a longer-than-usual layoff from active competition.
"This Sunday, we've got the four best teams in our conference on the court, and they're all quality programs with strong lineups top to bottom," Hillsdale head men's tennis coach Keith Turner said. "It's going to be a really good test for where we're at and a good way to get back into the flow of competition.
"We didn't finish the spring season, and then most of our players didn't get to enter the summer tournaments they normally would have because of the pandemic. I think our players are all hungry to get out there and get back to playing competitive matches."
Hillsdale comes into the 2020-21 season with high hopes but also big shoes to fill in the lineup as it looks to contend for a G-MAC crown and unseat 2018-19 champion Tiffin at the top of the standings.
The Chargers got off to a great start in the 2019-20 season and were looking like a G-MAC contender before the season was canceled.
Hillsdale returns several key players from their singles lineup from that team, including senior Ivanhoe Lissanevitch (Kathmanadu, Nepal/Bruguera Tennis Academy), who excelled at No. 2 singles in the shortened season, junior and No. 4 singles player Brian Hackman (Island Lake, IL/Wauconda) and sophomore Tyler Conrad (Midland, MI/Dow) who had a promising freshman campaign.
But the Chargers will have to find replacements for No. 1 singles player Charlie Adams, who graduated as the program's all-time wins leader, as well as lineup mainstays Michael Szabo and Julien Clouette.
Seniors Gabe Katz (South Burlington, VT/South Burlington) and Nico de Enrique Schmidt (Bunyola, Balearic Isles, Spain/San Jose Obrero) will play bigger roles this season, as will sophomore Bogdan Janicijevic (Belgrade, Serbia/First High School of Belgrade).
A smaller roster means that a talented three-player freshman class of Sean Barstow (Folsom, CA/Folsom), Brennan Cimpeanu (Troy, MI/Troy) and Daniel Gilbert (Fort Wayne, IN/Homestead) will get opportunities to crack the lineup and contribute early on.
That starts on Sunday, where every Charger will be in action in at least one flight in their home tournament.
Action starts in the morning at 9 a.m. with four doubles flights competing, and after a short lunch break will resume in the afternoon with action in seven singles flights.
After a long layoff and a summer of uncertainty, the Chargers are excited to be back in action this weekend.
"As recently as a month ago, there was still a lot of doubt that we would be able to do anything in the fall, and we could possibly go nearly an entire year without playing," Turner said. "We're very grateful for the work that Hillsdale College and the G-MAC have put in to create an environment where it's safe enough for us to play and where we have the protocols in place to allow for competition to take place in the fall.
"Everyone on this team has lost at least a portion of a season, and that experience has made us all aware more than ever that we can't take the opportunity to get back out on the courts and play for granted. I think it really has increased our excitement and our motivation for Sunday and for the rest of our season, and we're really looking forward to it."