In a match that included five sets decided by tiebreakers, the Hillsdale College women's tennis team came out on the short end in a 4-2 defeat to visiting Tiffin on Sunday.
The Dragons got an early advantage in the match by claiming the doubles point after taking all three doubles matches. Hillsdale nearly pulled out a win at No. 2 doubles, as Canela Luna and Sophia Spinazze forced a tiebreak before falling 7-6 (4), and Hannah Cimpeanu and Sarah Hackman also came close in a 6-4 loss at No. 1 doubles.
In singles play, Hackman got a win at No. 2 singles for the Chargers, pulling out a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Tiffin's Anais Geslin, and Spinazze pulled out a tight win at No. 4 singles, 7-6 (8), 6-3 over the Dragons' Alessandra Maganuco.
Tiffin, however, got close victories of their own at No. 1 singles, No. 3 singles and No. 5 singles to get enough points to clinch the victory. Those close wins and the doubles point proved critical as Hillsdale's Helana Formentin was up 6-4 after one set at No. 6 singles when the match ended, and could have potentially swung the match to a 4-3 Charger victory if Hillsdale had found one more point earlier in the day.
Hillsdale (4-5, 1-2 G-MAC) is now on a two-match losing streak, but both matches were close and against top teams in the conference standings. The Chargers will look to get back on track this Thursday, with a match at Cedarville up next.
Photo by Summer Fields