The Hillsdale College women's tennis team showed its resilience on Saturday, fighting to the final points to eke out a razor-thin victory against regional foe Saginaw Valley State, 4-3, at home.
Key to the Chargers' victory was capturing the doubles point. Hillsdale's No. 2 doubles team of junior Courtney Rittel and freshman Ane Dannhauser took a hard fought tiebreak, 7-3, to win a tight 7-6 match over their Cardinals counterparts. That victory, coupled with a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles by junior Libby McGivern and senior Helana Formentin gave the Chargers a 1-0 edge in the match that would prove to be decisive.
Hillsdale also got big victories in singles play. McGivern won 6-3, 6-3 over SVSU's Johanna Michahelles at No. 3 doubles to complete an undefeated day, while Rittel also picked up a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles over SVSU's Alexis Anthes to finish 2-0 on the day as well.
The decisive singles win for the Chargers came at No. 2 singles, where senior Melanie Zampardo won a hard-fought, back and forth match with SVSU's Tara Erler, taking a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory in three sets to clinch the match.
Hillsdale is now 3-6 on the season and will take the next week off in anticipation of the team's spring break trip to Florida, where the Chargers will play road matches against national powerhouse Nova Southeastern on March 11, and a strong Palm Beach Atlantic team on March 13.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan