The Hillsdale College men’s tennis team suffered its first loss last weekend, beating Grand Valley State University 4-3 on Feb. 27, but losing to Ferris State University 4-3 on Feb. 28.
The matches this weekend consisted of lost doubles points, close matches, and tiebreaks.
“Overall (doubles) didn’t play poorly but we are going to explore some new teams during practice this week,” head coach Keith Turner said.
On Saturday against GVSU, Hillsdale lost the doubles point for the second match in a row, with only freshman Brennan Cimpeanu and senior Gabe Katz winning 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.
Despite falling behind, the Chargers rallied behind strong play from all their singles matches, sweeping singles to pull out the victory.
Sophomore Tyler Conrad won a 8-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) match, while Cimpeanu won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
“One major take away from this weekend is energy and positivity,” Cimpeanu said. “When I have my teammates cheering for me and when I keep myself positive, I tend to play better and with more confidence.”
Junior Brian Hackman won 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to tie the match 3-3, and freshman Daniel Gilbert won a marathon match 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to clinch the victory.
“This weekend was a prime example of the ups and downs you face during the course of a collegiate season in any sport,” Turner said. “The Grand Valley match was one of our biggest wins since I was hired to restart the program six and a half years ago.”
On Sunday against Ferris State, a consistent contender for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, the Chargers lost the doubles point again with the same duo of Cimpeanu and Katz as the only team to win.
“We really have to work on our doubles to secure that point,” Cimpeanu said. “A lot of these better teams tend to rely on the doubles point for that 4-3 victory.”
Gilbert, Cimpeanu, and Katz all won their singles matches, but the Chargers could not get the fourth victory to steal the match, falling to Ferris State.
“The Ferris loss was tough knowing that it was a team we are capable of beating,” Turner said. “The good news is that we know we have the ability to beat the best teams in the Midwest.”
“We’re the team, especially Daniel Gilbert, that is making the other teams player’s cramp because we’re working them so hard,” Turner said. “That’s a great thing to see as a coach.”
The Chargers face Southern Indiana University at home at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 8.
“Southern Indiana is another strong team, we need to find a way to get the doubles point,” Turner said. “We feel that if we get the doubles point in our upcoming matches, nobody is going to beat us with how strong our singles lineup is.”