In a fitting moment for Senior Day, three Hillsdale College women's tennis seniors each came up with big wins for the Chargers as Hillsdale closed out the regular season with a 5-2 victory over Northwood at its home Delp Tennis Courts on Saturday.
Trailing 1-0 after losing the doubles point, Hillsdale dominated singles play, taking five of the six matches. Playing in their final home matches, seniors Sarah Hackman, Canela Luna and Ellie Chawner each recorded a singles victory for the Chargers to help Hillsdale win.
Hackman picked up the victory at No. 1 singles, going up on Northwood's Rafaela Platsiota 5-2 before her opponent retired from the match, while Luna rallied from a 6-4 first set loss to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-4 and help clinch the match.
Chawner also pulled out a stirring victory at No. 6 singles, beating Northwood's Regan Fales 6-2, 7-6 (3) with a big win in a second set tiebreak. Sophomore Libby McGivern also pulled out a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Northwood's Savannah Matuszewski at No. 4 singles, and junior Melanie Zampardo won at No. 2 singles, up 6-3, 1-0 on her Northwood opponent before she retired as well.
The Chargers lost the doubles point 2-1 to the Timberwolves, with Hillsdale's lone win coming in a 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles by sophomore Courtney Rittel and freshman Isabella Spinazze.
Saturday was the final home match for Hillsdale's senior class of Hackman, Luna, Chawner and Tatum Matthews, a group that had helped the Chargers to a 2020-21 G-MAC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance, while contributing to numerous winning seasons for the program.
They'll get a chance to make a run at another G-MAC Tourney crown next weekend from April 20-22 in Owensboro, Kentucky, as the win over the Timberwolves secured the three-seed for the Chargers.
Hillsdale, now 9-7 overall and 6-2 in G-MAC play, will take on Ashland in the G-MAC Quarterfinal round on Thursday, April 20 at 10 a.m. The winner of the match will move on to face second-seeded Findlay in a semifinal match on Friday, April 21 at 10 a.m., facing off to see which team advances to the G-MAC Championship match on Saturday.