After a season of firsts for Hillsdale College men's tennis players Brennan Cimpeanu and Sean Barstow, another big first for the pair was announced earlier this week.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association put out its final rankings of the season, and both Cimpeanu in singles and Barstow and Cimpeanu in doubles made the cut, becoming the first Chargers in the history of the men's tennis program to finish the season nationally ranked by the ITA.
Cimpeanu, a first-team All-G-MAC player and the ITA Midwest Regional Champion, finished the 2021-22 season ranked 15th overall in singles. Cimpeanu posted an 18-5 record, with four of his five losses coming to nationally ranked players, and the fifth being a match where Cimpeanu was forced to withdraw before the conclusion with an injury. He also picked up several notable victories over ranked players, including wins over fourth-ranked Bruno Faletto of St. Leo and 22nd-ranked Nikolaj Talimaa of Indianapolis, and 26th-ranked Dom Spicer of Wayne State University. A seventh-place finish at the ITA Cup against the best players NCAA DII has to offer also factored in to Cimpeanu's ranking.
The pair of Cimpeanu and Barstow also finished the season ranked nationally in doubles, placing 18th in the nation. While the pair didn't play a lot of matches together in 2021-22, the duo were extremely strong when they were on the court, finishing 9-4 overall, earning runner-up honors at the ITA Midwest Regional, and tying for 13th at the ITA Cup with a victory over a ranked Mercyhurst team as well.
Both players will return for Hillsdale in 2022-23, along with three of the other four regular players in the lineup in 2021-22, and the Chargers also return senior Brian Hackman from injury and bring in a strong freshman class to build what could be the best team in program history next year if health cooperates and everything comes together. Barstow and Cimpeanu will look to build off their rankings as well with two more years of eligibility remaining.