The Hillsdale College women's tennis team had a successful trip east to Pennsylvania over the weekend, picking up its first match win of 2024 and splitting contests against Edinboro and Mercyhurst.
The Chargers opened play on Saturday with a 6-1 victory at Edinboro. Hillsdale dominated the doubles flights, winning all three matches to secure the doubles point. The regionally ranked duo of senior Melanie Zampardo and sophomore Megan Hackman took a 7-5 win at No. 1 doubles, junior Courtney Rittel and freshman Ane Dannhauser teamed up for a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles, and junior Libby McGivern and senior Helana Formentin took a 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles to sweep the Scots.
In singles play, Hillsdale dropped the No. 1 singles match but swept the remaining five flights. Zampardo picked up a 6-0, 6-3 win over Edinboro's Luciana Ponce at No. 2 singles, and McGivern won a 6-3, 6-2 match over the Scots' Cecilia Carayol at No. 3 singles.
Hillsdale also had two comeback victories at No. 4 and No. 5 singles. Formentin overcame a 6-3 set 1 loss to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-2 over Edinboro's Rafaelle Negrao De Almeida at No. 4 singles for the Chargers, and senior Julia Wagner also dropped set 1 6-3 but rebounded with two 6-0, 6-0 victories to win at No. 5 singles over Edinboro's Lara Sener. Hackman wrapped things up for the Chargers at No. 6 singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Edinboro's Marina Zottele.
The Chargers had a tougher go of things at Mercyhurst on Sunday, falling to the host Lakers 5-2. Despite a 6-2 victory at No. 1 doubles by Hackman and Zampardo, Hillsdale lost the doubles point for the first time this season, falling into a 1-0 hole early in the match. In a competitive singles portion, Zampardo finished off an undefeated weekend for the Chargers with a 6-1, 7-6 (7) win over the Lakers' Murphy, and Rittel picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win for Hillsdale at No. 6 singles over Mercyhurst's Budin, but couldn't overcome that early deficit despite hard fights from its singles lineup.
Hillsdale is now 1-4 overall and plays two more matches this weekend, hosting Lake Superior State at the Biermann Center on Saturday and traveling to Ferris State on Sunday for two important regional showdowns.
Photo by Emma Purdy