The Hillsdale College women's tennis team battled in its final non-conference match of the regular season, falling in a close contest with host Palm Beach Atlantic, 5-2, to end its Florida trip on Thursday.
The Chargers got the match started on a high note by capturing the doubles point. Hillsdale's No. 1 doubles team of Sarah Hackman and Melanie Zampardo took a hard-fought 7-5 victory, and the No. 2 doubles team of Canela Luna and Sophia Spinazze clinched the doubles point by taking a 6-4 victory over their opponents from Palm Beach Atlantic. Hillsdale nearly swept the host Sailfish in doubles, as the Chargers' No. 3 doubles team of Libby McGivern and Ellie Chawner fell in a narrow 7-5 loss as well.
Unfortunately, Hillsdale couldn't quite carry over the momentum to singles play, where the Sailfish won five of six matches to take the contest. Luna was the lone winner for Hillsdale, pulling off an impressive 6-4, 6-0 victory over Anabelle Robichaud of Palm Beach Atlantic at No. 3 singles.
The Charger were close in three more flights, as No. 1 singles player Sarah Hackman, No. 2 singles player Libby McGivern and No. 5 singles player Ellie Chawner forced third sets in their matches. If Hillsdale had pulled out two of three, it could have taken a 4-3 victory, but the Sailfish were just too strong late in the match to beat. Hackman fell 6-2, 6-7, 0-6 to Elvira Edstrom of PBA, McGivern lost a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 0-6 match to the Sailfish's Verena Weindl, and Chawner fell 1-6, 6-2, 3-6 to Greta Langiu of PBA as well.
Spinazze fell 1-6, 4-6 to Cecilia Peroni of PBA at No. 4 singles as well for Hillsdale, and Helana Formentin lost 3-6, 2-6 to the Salifish's Frida Alsterhem as well.
The Chargers are now 4-6 overall heading into G-MAC play, and Hillsdale kicks off its conference slate on Saturday at home with a match against G-MAC newcomer Ashland. While it's early in the season, the match could have an outsized role in the qualifying makeup of the season-ending G-MAC tournament, as just four teams make it and the race is expected to be close this year, with both the Chargers and Eagles involved.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan