Senior Tyler Conrad etched his name into history for the Hillsdale College men's tennis team as the Chargers topped Ashland 4-1 on the road to improve to 4-0 in G-MAC play on Saturday.
With a 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 2 singles over Ashland's Batsoni Marobela, Conrad recorded his 121st collegiate win, tying the fifth year senior for the most wins in Hillsdale College program history. Conrad matched 2020 graduate and former teammate Charlie Adams, who had 121 wins in a career from 2016 to 2020.
Conrad's victory was part of a dominant singles performance by the Chargers, who rallied from losing the doubles point against the Eagles to reel off four straight wins. No. 1 singles player Aidan Pack won a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 match over Ashland's Rodrigo Lugero, and senior Sean Barstow won a tight 10-8 tiebreak to take his No. 3 singles match over Fabian Bussard as well, 6-2, 7-6 (8).
At No. 6 singles, senior Daniel Gilbert pulled out a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over Doug Cree to clinch the match. While they didn't get to finish as the match was played to clinch, both Hillsdale's No. 4 singles player, Ellis Klanduch, and No. 5 singles player, Henry Hammond, were ahead when their matches were stopped.
While Hillsdale couldn't win the doubles point, Hillsdale did get a win at No. 1 doubles from Pack and Barstow, who pulled out a 6-2 victory over their opponents from Ashland.
With the victory, Hillsdale is now 9-6 overall, 4-0 in G-MAC play. The Chargers will next travel to Northwood on Saturday, April 6 for a big test against the Timberwolves, and an opportunity for Conrad to move past Adams and claim the solo all-time wins record.
Photo by Reva Ludwig