The Hillsdale College men's tennis team's fifth-year veteran, Tyler Conrad continues to impress and lead the Chargers to success in his final season at Hillsdale.
Conrad's latest award came on Monday afternoon, as the senior was recognized as G-MAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week for his performance during the Chargers' Spring Break trip. It's Conrad's first weekly conference honor of the season and the sixth of his decorated career.
The Midland, Michigan native was stellar for the Chargers as Hillsdale played three matches in the PTR Spring Tennis Fest on Hilton Head, Island last week, going 5-0 in six matches with one unfinished to help Hillsdale to a 2-1 record and a perfect 2-0 mark against NCAA Division II opponents.
Conrad swept all three of his matches at No. 2 singles for the Chargers, and won doubles contests versus both West Virginia State and Quincy in victories over those teams. His play was especially important in a 4-3 result over Quincy, as Conrad's 6-3 win with partner Ellis Klanduch at No. 2 doubles secured the doubles point for the Chargers, and his 6-0, 7-5 win over Zach Willing at No. 2 singles provided another point in a match where one result would have changed the outcome.
Perhaps Conrad's most impressive performance came in Hillsdale's lone loss on the week. A big underdog against a NCAA Division I foe in the University of St. Louis, Conrad won the only point for the Chargers in a 6-1 defeat, taking a 13-11 third set super-tiebreak to upset Saint Louis' Andres Castellanos in an impressive victory at No. 2 singles. He and Klanduch also played their Billikens opponents to a standstill at No. 2 doubles, finishing all knotted up at 5-5 when St. Louis clinched the doubles point with victories in other flights and halted the match.
Conrad, a five-year starter for Hillsdale including the abbreviated Covid-19 spring in 2020, entered the season with 101 career victories, and has added 13 more in 2023-24, placing him second in program history with 114, behind Charlie Adams' 121 wins. The senior will have a chance to overtake Adams and become Hillsdale's all-time winningest player down the stretch of the season as conference play opens this weekend with home matches against Kentucky Wesleyan and Thomas More on Saturday and Sunday.
Photo by Anthony Lupi