G-MAC Women's Championship Page
In 2021, the Hillsdale College women's tennis team pulled off a run for the ages at the G-MAC Tournament, going from the fourth-seed and last team in to the champions after pulling back-to-back upsets.
This Friday and Saturday, in Owensboro, Kentucky, the Chargers will be attempting to follow the same blueprint as Hillsdale once again finds itself the fourth seed and underdog to take the G-MAC tourney crown.
Much like last year, however, there's reason to believe the Chargers can pull it off despite losses to all three of the other teams in attendance: top-seeded Findlay, second-seeded Tiffin and third-seeded Walsh.
All three of those losses were relatively close, and none closer than the 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Oilers, who the Chargers match up with first on Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET. A different result in the third set at No. 4 singles on April 11 against Findlay, or in a tight match at No. 1 doubles, and it would have been Hillsdale walking away with a 4-3 victory, not the Oilers.
Hillsdale has a strong No. 1 singles player in senior Sarah Hackman, who went 6-1 in conference matches at the position this season, and veterans of last season's championship run at No. 4 singles in junior Canela Luna, No. 5 singles in senior Sophia Spinazze, and No. 6 singles in Ellie Chawner. Two new faces, freshman Libby McGivern at No. 2 singles and sophomore Melanie Zampardo, a Wayne State transfer, at No. 3 singles, have strengthened and stabilized the Chargers' lineup.
The big key for Hillsdale might be the doubles point. The Chargers lost doubles to all three of the other G-MAC Tournament semifinalists, in each case by extremely slim margins. In 2021, it was the same story in the regular season for Hillsdale, but the Chargers flipped the script in the 2021 G-MAC Tourney, winning the doubles point in both matches on the way to the title. If Hillsdale can repeat that feat again, the path to a fourth-straight G-MAC Championship looks very attainable.
The Chargers have won all four contested G-MAC Tournament titles since joining the conference in the 2017-18 school year. Of the four teams in attendance this weekend, Hillsdale is the only team that's won a prior G-MAC Tourney crown.
Photo by Anthony Lupi