The Hillsdale College men's tennis team closed out its Spring Break trip to Florida with a 6-1 loss to another tough squad, Florida Southern, on Monday.
Sophomore Sean Barstow led the Chargers with an excellent day, teaming with junior Tyler Conrad for a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles, and pulling out a thrilling 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 victory over Elliott Altman of Florida Southern at No. 3 singles to go undefeated.
Hillsdale, however, came up short in the other two doubles matches to lose the doubles point, and struggled to find wins elsewhere in the singles lineup against a solid and talented Mocs squad. Conrad came the closest in a 6-3, 6-3 loss at No. 2 singles for the Chargers, while junior Bogdan Janiciejevic also battled in a 6-2, 6-2 loss at No. 5 singles as well for Hillsdale.
The loss to Florida Southern drops the Chargers to 4-7 overall, and marks the end of non-conference play for Hillsdale. The Chargers now turn their focus to the six-match G-MAC schedule, beginning with a home contest against Ashland on Saturday. Hillsdale will be looking to secure a spot in its fourth-straight G-MAC Tournament and give itself the opportunity to play its way into the NCAA DII Tournament field for the second straight year by winning the G-MAC Tourney title and claiming the auto-bid. Picking up wins in the first three matches on the calendar, all at home, will be critical to the Chargers' efforts.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan