The Hillsdale College men’s tennis team shut out Edinboro University on Saturday, ranked No. 4 in the Atlantic region, 9-0 in their first faceoff in history. The Chargers, however, were shut out by Wayne State 0-9 on Sunday.
Sophomore Milan Mirkovic dispatched of the nation’s No. 13 player Vitor Albanese 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets to snatch No. 1 singles. Mirkovic teamed with sophomore Julien Clouette to seize a No. 3 doubles win 8-3. Sophomore Charlie Adams won at No. 2 singles 7-6, 8-6, 6-1. Adams joined junior Justin Hyman to win No. 1 doubles 8-6, and Hyman claimed a No. 3 singles win 6-3, 6-3. Junior John Ciraci won at No. 4 singles 6-3, 6-0 and joined senior captain Dugan Delp for a 9-7 No. 2 doubles win.
Delp was named G-MAC Player of the Week on Tuesday. Delp seized a No. 5 singles win 6-3, 6-2. He is 4-2 in doubles play and 3-3 in singles play on the season.
Freshman Gabe Katz shut out No. 6 singles 6-0, 6-0.
“It was our overall best match of the year,” head coach Keith Turner said. “Everyone played quite well, and Edinboro is ranked No. 4 in the Atlantic region, so to beat them 9-0 showed when we’re playing to our potential how good of a team we are.”
Turner said the six consecutive match comeback in No. 2 doubles was impressive.
“All three of our doubles teams played well,” Turner said. “No. 2 doubles was down 7-3 and came back to win 9-7. Gabe Katz also played well and won 6-0 6-0 in No. 6 singles.”
Katz said their performance set the tone for the rest of the match.
“The fact we swept Edinboro is incredible because they are a regionally-ranked team,” Mirkovic said. “So that was a great win for us.”
The Chargers fell to Wayne State 8-1 on Sunday.
Delp swiped Hillsdale’s single point from the Warriors in an incredible No. 5 singles win 6-3, 0-6, 10-8 in which he came back from a shutout.
“It was just a forgettable day,” Turner said. “Their tennis courts aren’t even real tennis courts. It’s true; they have a multi-surface facility. It’s unfortunate because it really was an important match. But let’s just say we’ve already agreed to never play on that surface again and we’re always gonna play matches at a neutral site going forward when we play Wayne State.”
Turner told his team to leave it in the past.
“I just told the guys to move on and forget about it,” Turner said.
Mirkovic said the courts made the match frustrating.
“It was a shame because we’ve beaten Wayne State before,” Mirkovic said. “And we really have a good chance of beating them anywhere but their courts because their courts are a whole different surface. It’s like going from hard court to clay court and we didn’t have enough time to get used to the surface. All of us were late on hits because the surface made the ball about 20 percent faster than it should be.”
Katz said the team hopes to get another shot at Wayne State.
“Their courts are ridiculously fast and they’re used to them. We’re not,” Katz said. “I shouldn’t say that’s why we lost, but it played a role in it. They were still mostly close matches. It’s definitely a team we can beat if we play them again later.”
The Chargers are 3-3 on the season and will face Grand Valley State at the Biermann Athletic Center on March 2.
“Grand Valley is ranked No. 4. We are No. 10,” Katz said. “So they obviously have a good team. Last year they beat us twice, but I think we can beat them if we play well.”
Mirkovic concurred.
“Grand Valley is basically one of the best teams out there,” Mirkovic said. “It’s gonna be tough to beat them, but honestly we have a pretty good chance regardless, because our team is solid. If everything goes as planned, we can be extremely dangerous.”
Turner said he hoped Friday’s match would help the team’s regional ranking.