The fourth-seeded Hillsdale College men's tennis team pushed the top seeded defending champion Tiffin in a tighter match than the Dragons had played all year against conference competition, but ultimately the Chargers couldn't pull the upset in a 4-2 loss on Friday in the G-MAC Semifinal at Centre Court in Owensboro, Kentucky.
The match came down in a big way to a hotly-contested doubles point. The Chargers pushed Tiffin in all three flights, forcing tiebreaks at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles while hanging tough at No. 2 doubles. Ultimately, however, Tiffin was able to pull out the No. 2 doubles match and escape with a 7-4 tiebreak victory at No. 3 doubles to secure an important point.
The doubles point loss meant Hillsdale had to get four victories in six singles matches. Two of Hillsdale's highly decorated seniors went out on top in what was likely their final match at Hillsdale, as No. 2 singles player and Hillsdale's all-time career wins leader, Tyler Conrad, took an impressive 6-2, 7-5 victory over Tiffin's Matt Telford, and teammate Sean Barstow earned the 120th win of his career with a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory over Tiffin's Cyrille Colomb at No. 3 singles to give the Chargers two critical points.
Despite hard-fought efforts elsewhere, however, Hillsdale couldn't find the two additional wins it needed to pull the upset. Sophomore Aidan Pack fought two-time G-MAC Player of the Year Ruben Fonga tooth and nail across two competitive sets, including a first-set tiebreak, but ultimately fell to Tiffin's No. 1 singles player, while freshman Ellis Klanduch also put up a good fight at No. 4 singles in a close 6-4, 7-5 loss to Tiffin's Maxime Navrotchi. Tiffin's win at No. 5 singles brought the match to a close and allowed the Dragons to advance.
Hillsdale falls to 11-10 overall with the loss, and now awaits the announcement of the NCAA DII Tournament field on May 6 to find out if they secured an at-large bid. If this is the end for the Chargers, Hillsdale will bid farewell to three program stalwarts who've carried the team to new heights over the last four years in Conrad, Barstow, and four-year starter Daniel Gilbert, but the Chargers also will look to return several strong players in Pack, a first-team All-G-MAC honoree, and promising freshmen Klanduch and Henry Hammond, while welcoming in a large class of incoming freshmen to add talent to the lineup.
Photo by Joel Krenz