Two Hillsdale College men's tennis players joined a teammate in reaching the 100-win milestone for their careers, and the Chargers sent their three graduating seniors off as winners as Hillsdale won 4-3 over Northwood in the final regular season match of 2023 on Saturday.
In helping the Chargers capture the doubles point with a 6-3 win alongside partner Brian Hackman at No. 1 doubles, Brennan Cimpeanu reached 100 wins for his Hillsdale career in his final home match. A junior, Cimpeanu is graduating a year early to join a prestigious Masters program at Michigan State University, and will leave Hillsdale as the program's first and only NCAA DII All-American honoree to date.
Hillsdale also got a win at No. 2 doubles in a tight 7-5 match thanks to partners Tyler Conrad and Sean Barstow that clinched the doubles point. That point proved to be the deciding factor in a match where the singles split evenly between the two teams with three wins apiece.
Conrad, a senior, played a pivotal role with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Northwood's David Sedlar at No. 3 singles, and with that victory, reached the 100-win milestone for himself. Conrad and Cimepanu join graduating senior Brian Hackman in reaching the 100-win mark in the 2023 season, as Hackman earned his 100th victory last weekend. The trio are the first Hillsdale College men's tennis players to reach 100 wins since 2019, and are the latest milestone getters this season, as coach Keith Turner also recorded his 200th win as a collegiate coach last weekend as well.
Freshman Aidan Pack also picked up a crucial victory at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 7-5, over Northwood's Kuzma Zubrii, and Barstow won a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Northwood's Mathis Violet at No. 6 singles to clinch the match.
All three of Hillsdale's other players -- Cimpeanu at No. 1 singles, Hackman at No. 2 singles, and junior Daniel Gilbert at No. 5 singles, took their Northwood opponents to a third set before coming up just short.
The victory was the final home match for Hillsdale's three graduating seniors -- Brian Hackman, Brennan Cimpeanu, and Bogdan Janicijevic, who all played a part on Hillsdale's 2020-21 G-MAC Championship team and have been important players for the last three or more seasons for the Chargers. Very few players have reached the 100-win threshhold, and to have two in one graduating class is a testament to their quality. Conrad would make a third member of the class in the 100-win club, but the senior is taking advantage of a fifth year of eligibility thanks to the Covid-19 waiver to return for one more season in 2023-24.
Hillsdale finishes the regular season at 13-6 overall, 5-2 in G-MAC play and have secured the second-seed and a first-round bye in the six-team G-MAC Tournament held in Owensboro, Kentucky from April 20-22, this coming weekend. The Chargers will have a first-round bye and play the winners of the Thursday quarterfinal between Walsh and Ashland at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 21.