The Hillsdale College Chargers will travel to Lexington, Ohio to take on Ashland University in their first game of the spring season on Saturday at Lakewood Racquet Club at 2 p.m. The Chargers return home on Sunday to host Davenport University in the Biermann Athletic Center. A start time for the game has yet to be announced.
The Chargers won G-MAC regular season championship and the G-MAC tournament championship in 2018. They enter the season as clear favorites to repeat as conference champions in 2019, according to a recent G-MAC coaches’ poll. Hillsdale received five of seven first-place votes. The University of Findlay and Tiffin University also received first-place votes.
Junior Freddy Heegan, who joined the team last semester, said he’s enjoying the experience thus far and looking forward to the upcoming season
“Before I started playing in September, I hadn’t picked up a racket for two years,” Heegan said. “Since joining, I’ve become closer to the guys on the team and improved a lot. [Head coach Keith] Turner is really good at motivating us, and making me feel welcome on the team. I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Heegan said during the offseason the team not only prepared well but feels confident about the upcoming season.
“We’ve put a lot of time into in the offseason and the past few weeks,” Heegan said. “We have good chemistry and feel pretty optimistic about the season, especially coming off of a really good season, last season. We’ve made a few adjustments, but have a really good outlook. I think we’ll be ready to hold our own in the G-MAC.”
Heegan said Ashland and Davenport aren’t necessarily intimidating competition for Hillsdale, as long as the team sticks to what it knows will pave the way for success.
“Every match – it doesn’t matter who we’re playing — we’re going to prepare the same, and not deviate from the process,” Heegan said. “We’re going to approach it like we would any other match. As the first match, it’s really going to set the tone for the season.”
The Chargers won their only official game in the fall against Indiana Tech University on Sept. 18, while Ashland and Davenport enter the weekend with no official games on their record from the fall. The Chargers didn’t play Ashland or Davenport last season.
Hillsdale’s conference schedule begins March 22. Last season, the Chargers went 14 – 6 during the regular season and a perfect 8 – 0 against conference opponents.
