The Hillsdale College men's tennis team found itself playing at a deficit in Sunday's home match against Indiana Tech.
The Warriors took a hotly contested doubles point by the narrowest of margins to give themselves an early edge in the match, but the Chargers were undeterred, fighting back in singles to take an exciting 4-3 victory in a well-played match by both teams.
In doubles play, Hillsdale's No. 1 team of Brennan Cimpeanu and Sean Barstow took a 6-2 victory, while Indiana Tech's No. 2 doubles team pulled out a tight 6-4 match. That meant the doubles point came down to a back and forth match at No. 3 doubles, and although Hillsdale's team of Brian Hackman and Nik Wastcoat forced a tiebreak with a series of excellent rallies and impressive points, the Warriors came out on top in a 7-6 (9) thriller.
The result put pressure on the Chargers to dominate singles play, and Hillsdale did just that, winning four matches in straight sets to secure the victory. Cimpeanu improved to 8-1 on the year with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles over Indiana Tech's Michel Zobel, and the Chargers' No. 2 singles player, Tyler Conrad, also took a 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory over the Warriors' Kayra Kargin as well.
At No. 4 singles, Barstow also wrapped up an undefeated day for Hillsdale with an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Indiana Tech's Lee Chan, and at No. 6 singles, Wastcoat got revenge for the narrow doubles loss in a 7-5, 6-3 victory the gave the Chargers the match-clinching point.
While Hillsdale's other two singles players didn't record victories, both freshman Aidan Pack and junior Daniel Gilbert showed significant promise in coming close. Pack rallied from a first set loss to force a third set at No. 3 singles before falling, while Gilbert was a narrow 8-6 defeat in a second-set tiebreak away from claiming an impressive victory of his own at No. 5 singles.
The Chargers (1-0) have one more event to wrap up the fall, as Hillsdale heads to Northwood next Friday and Saturday for a G-MAC Invitational. This preview event will feature all the top contenders for the G-MAC title in the spring and will be a great measuring stick for the Chargers to see where they stand heading into winter training