The Hillsdale College men's tennis team wrapped up its home schedule for the 2021-22 season on Saturday with a critical win over G-MAC foe Cedarville, 5-2.
The victory improves Hillsdale to 3-0 in conference play and all but locks up the Chargers' fourth-straight G-MAC Tournament berth with three conference matches remaining in the regular season.
In order to get the victory, Hillsdale had to overcome losing the doubles point and going into an early 1-0 hole. The Chargers' No. 1 doubles team of Sean Barstow and Tyler Conrad won a thrilling 7-6 match over their Cedarville opponents thanks to a hard-fought 7-4 tiebreak, by the Yellow Jackets won the other two flights to secure the point.
That meant the Chargers had very little margin for error in singles play, but Hillsdale's veteran core stepped up and delivered at all four of the top positions. Brennan Cimpeanu, the 12th-ranked singles player in the country, won a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Cedarville's Timmy O'Brien at No. 1 singles, and Hillsdale's No. 2 singles player, Tyler Conrad, took a 6-4, 6-1 victory over the Yellow Jackets' Toshi Watanabe. The Chargers' No. 3 singles player, Sean Barstow, also picked up a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Cedarville's Cole Moss, and No. 4 singles player Daniel Gilbert clinched the match for Hillsdale with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Nathan Brumbaugh.
The Chargers also got a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles from senior Matt Granzotto, his first singles win in a Hillsdale uniform. Granzotto joined the Chargers as a walk-on this season to help fill out the lineup after injuries and absences left Hillsdale short-handed, and stepped up on Saturday for an impressive victory.
Now 7-7 overall, the Chargers are still in play for a G-MAC title but face a tough three-match stretch on the road against all of the other three contenders for the crown to close out the regular season. The stretch begins with a trip to Tiffin on Saturday, April 9 for a rematch against the team Hillsdale beat in the G-MAC Tournament final last season in a 4-3 thriller to capture the crown.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop
