Senior Sean Barstow became just the sixth Hillsdale College men's tennis player to exceed 100 match victories during his career since the program was restarted in 2015 on Saturday, helping lead the Chargers to a 4-2 win over visiting Lake Superior State in the process.
Barstow, a three-time All-G-MAC honoree, reached the 100 win mark while teaming with Aidan Pack to help the Chargers take the doubles point from the Lakers. The duo beat LSSU's team in a 6-4 match at No. 1 doubles, and Hillsdale's No. 2 pairing of Tyler Conrad and Ellis Klanduch won a 7-4 tiebreak at No. 2 singles to take a tight match and give the Chargers a 1-0 lead.
The senior earned win No. 101 at No. 5 singles for the Chargers, capturing the match-clinching point with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over LSSU's Lezan Koyuncu to secure the victory. Hillsdale also got an undefeated day from Pack, who took a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Lluc Limongi Ollers at No. 1 singles in an impressive victory, and a win at No. 3 singles from freshman Ellis Klanduch, who won a back-and-forth 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 match over LSSU's Jordi Fraile Raton for a critical singles win as well.
Barstow is now one of two players on the team with over 100 career victories, joining fifth-year senior Conrad, who reached the milestone last year. He also joins two former teammates, current assistant coaches Brian Hackman and Brennan Cimpeanu, in reaching the milestone. Barstow is currently sixth in all-time wins at Hillsdale, but with a lot of season remaining, the senior has a good chance to overtake both Cimpeanu and Hackman, as well as 2019 grad Justin Hyman, to move as high as third all-time on the list.
Hillsdale is now 3-3 overall and will play again tomorrow, Sunday, traveling to Ferris State for a big in-state and in-region matchup against a team that's a perennial NCAA Tournament contender in the region.
Photo by Anthony Lupi