The Hillsdale College women's tennis team took another top team in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and the Midwest Region to the wire on Sunday, but came up short in a 4-3 loss to visiting Walsh to close the regular season.
The Chargers got the match off to a strong start, winning the doubles point with victories by senior Hannah Cimpeanu and Sarah Hackman (6-1) at No. 1 doubles and by freshman Helana Formentin and sophomore Ellie Chawner (6-4) at No. 3 doubles.
Cimpeanu closed out the final home match of her career on a high note, downing Walsh's Maria Kacalova in a back-and-forth 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 thriller at No. 1 singles, and Hackman also picked up a hard-fought win for the Chargers at No. 2 singles as well, beating Walsh's Katharina Razum 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to give the Chargers a third point.
But the fourth point the Chargers needed to close out the match proved elusive, as the back end of Walsh's lineup came through for the Cavaliers. At No. 4 singles, junior Sophia Spinazze took her opponent to a third set, as did Formentin at No. 6 singles, but in the end Walsh pulled out the matches it needed to claim a 4-3 victory.
Sunday's match was the final home match for seniors Hannah Cimpeanu and Elli Formentin. Cimpeanu has been a mainstay in the lineup for Chargers for her entire career and the team's No. 1 singles player for the last three, earning first-team all-conference honors in 2018 and 2019 and helping the Chargers to G-MAC titles in both years. Formentin was a part of those championship teams as well and a leader on the squad for the last few seasons.
Hillsdale finishes the regular season at 5-6 overall, and 2-3 in the G-MAC. The Chargers now turn their focus to the G-MAC tournament next week in Owensboro, Kentucky. The fourth seed, Hillsdale will face top-seeded Tiffin on Friday, and if they're lucky enough, will play the winner of Findlay and Walsh for the championship on Saturday. While Hillsdale enters the tournament as an underdog, the Chargers have won the last two contested G-MAC tournaments and have never lost a G-MAC tournament match entering this weekend.
Photo by Summer Fields
