What a difference a few days, and a change of scenery, can make.
This past Sunday, playing indoors in hostile territory, the Hillsdale College women's tennis team fell to Walsh in the Chargers' regular season finale, 5-2. On Thursday, as the two teams faced off again at the Centre Court in Owensboro, Kentucky for a G-MAC Tournament quarterfinal match, this time it was Hillsdale that took charge, set the tempo and got a 4-2 victory that ended Walsh's season and helped the Chargers advance to the G-MAC Tournament semifinal round for the sixth straight season.
Just as it did on Sunday, Hillsdale started Thursday's tourney match by out-dueling Walsh for the doubles point. The Chargers' No. 1 doubles team of senior Melanie Zampardo and sophomore Megan Hackman earned a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles, and Hillsdale's No. 2 doubles doubles team of freshman Ane Dannhauser and junior Courtney Rittel took a 6-4 victory as well. While their match didn't need to be finished due to Hillsdale clinching the point, the Chargers' No. 3 doubles team of junior Libby McGivern and senior Helana Formentin also was up 6-5 in their match when the Chargers clinched.
The critical moment for Hillsdale came in the singles portion, where two Chargers players reversed tough losses in the regular season finale and changed them into wins to help Hillsdale take the match. Dannhauser, who was named G-MAC Freshman of the Year just moments before the match started, showed her savvy and ability to adjust, dominating Walsh's Yasmina Mayer 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles after losing to Mayer 7-6 (5), 6-0 just four days earlier.
At No. 4 singles as well, senior Helana Formentin got a huge bounce-back victory for Hillsdale against Walsh's Olesya Ivashchuk, who had edged Formentin out in a three-set match on Sunday. Thursday's match also went three sets but when it counted most, Formentin dominated play, taking the deciding set 6-1 to clinch a huge victory for Hillsdale in a 6-0, 0-6, 6-1 win.
Rittel clinched the match for the Chargers at No. 5 singles with a gutsy performance, rallying from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to beat Walsh' Rachel Kibler 6-3, 7-5 and give Hillsdale the upset victory.
While the match was already clinched, Hillsdale had another shot at victory in its back pocket as well, as senior Julia Wagner was up 2-1 in the third set at No. 6 singles when Rittel got the decisive point.
Hillsdale improves to 9-13 with the victory, and extends its season another day into Friday, where the Chargers will take the court at 2 p.m. ET. The Chargers will have a very tough test in the semifinal round against top-seeded Tiffin, currently 25-2 overall and undefeated in G-MAC play. Hillsdale will look to turn around a 6-1 defeat earlier in April at the hands of the Dragons and advance to Saturday's championship match.
Photo by Joel Krenz