The Hillsdale College men's tennis team has been on fire since returning from a Spring Break trip to Florida, winning three straight matches to open G-MAC play.
A big factor in the Chargers' success has been junior Tyler Conrad, who wrapped up an undefeated weekend to help the Chargers to a critical 5-2 victory over visiting Cedarville this past Saturday.
For his performance against the Yellow Jackets, Conrad was named the G-MAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week by the conference office on Monday, his second time this season winning the award and the fifth time in his career at Hillsdale.
On Saturday, Conrad and partner Sean Barstow were the lone Charger doubles team to come out on top, winning a 7-4 tiebreak to take the match 7-6 at No. 1 doubles in an exciting and hard-fought finish.
In singles play, Conrad was equally important, taking down Cedarville's Toshi Watanabe 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles to help the Chargers rally back from losing the doubles point by winning No. 1 through No. 4 singles and accumulating enough points to seal the victory.
The Chargers are now 7-7 overall and 3-0 in G-MAC play, with critical matches this weekend at Tiffin on Saturday and Findlay on Sunday as Hillsdale looks to overcome tough conference competition to repeat as G-MAC champions. As a leader and important part of a veteran core for the Charger tennis team, Conrad will be right in the mix playing a critical role in that push over the next two weekends.
Photo by Anthony Lupi