One weekend into the 2023 spring season, and the Hillsdale College men's tennis team is already off to an impressive start.
The Chargers picked up their second win in two days with a 6-1 victory over Davenport on Sunday, improving to 3-0 in dual matches in the 2022-23 campaign, and picking up a meaningful win over a solid Midwest Region foe at the NCAA DII level in the process.
Hillsdale took a big early edge in the match by capturing a hard-fought doubles point. The Chargers' No. 2 doubles pairing of senior Brian Hackman and freshman Nik Wastcoat pulled out a 6-4 victory over Davenport, and Hillsdale's No. 3 doubles team of Daniel Gilbert and Tyler Conrad also picked up a 6-2 win to secure the lead.
In singles play, the Chargers took control of the match with big performances, winning five of the six matches in straight sets. Junior Brennan Cimpeanu won a 7-3 second-set tiebreak for a win at No. 1 singles over Subash Paramsivam of Davenport, and Hackman completed a perfect 4-0 weekend with a 6-4, 6-0 win over the Panthers' Joel Mast at No. 3 singles.
Hillsdale's No. 4 and No. 5 singles players both rolled past their opponents with identical 6-1, 6-1 match scores, as senior Tyler Conrad downed Daniil Khitrou of Davenport at No. 4 singles, and junior Sean Barstow topped Jose Brenes Villarreal at No. 5 singles as well. Junior Daniel Gilbert completed Hillsdale's victories in the match with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Carlos Henriquez.
The victory avenges Hillsdale's 7-0 loss to Davenport in 2022, and puts the Chargers on solid footing with a win over a quality regional opponent. Hillsdale heads into another busy home weekend next, with a 1 p.m. Friday match in the Biermann Athletic Center against perennial Midwest Region contender Ferris State, followed by a tough match against Lewis the following day.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan