In a close match on Saturday, the Hillsdale College Chargers beat the Lewis University Flyers, 4-3. The win puts Hillsdale at 3-0 on the season.
The match started off with Hillsdale dropping the first point. The Chargers went 1-2 in doubles play, losing the first two courts in narrow 6-4 sets, which coach Nikki Walbright attributed to Lewis’s fast start.
“A lot of credit to the other team because the girls really came out to play,” Walbright said. “They had great energy and we just started off slow. With how quick the sets go, we just didn’t have time to catch up.”
The third court, led by junior Kamryn Matthews and senior Madeline Bissett, won 6-2.
Down to the Flyers, the Chargers won all four match-winning points in singles. Bouncing off a pair of long three-set matches last weekend, both freshman Sarah Hackman and sophomore Katie Bell won their matches in straight sets. Rounding out the match, freshman Sophia Spinazze and Bissett won their matches soundly.
The match-clinching win came from Hackman, who had command of the match all the way, according to Walbright.
“We were tied at three-all, and it was a little bit anticlimactic because she was in really good control of the match,” Walbright said. “Sarah played a really great match.”
Spinazze also contributed to the match with a win of her own in no. 5 singles.
“They came out ready to play, but fortunately we were able to pull it out,” Spinazze said. “This match was a good experience to help prepare for the rest of the season.”
At the beginning of the season, Walbright noted the difference the freshmen on the team were making in practice. Their important wins this weekend proved just how much they can add to a championship-level team.
“Sophia played great and that was a really big win for the day. I was definitely proud of both of the freshmen,” Walbright said. “They’ve added a lot, not just tennis-wise, but in their personalities, too. They’re really fun to have on the team.”
With senior Halle Hyman and Matthews out of the singles lineup against Lewis due to illnesses, the bottom end of the team’s dominance is a testament to the depth of the Chargers.
“I think one of our strengths is that girls technically at the bottom of our lineup are strong players and could be playing higher on other lineups,” Walbright said. “We’re very deep, for sure.”
The singles losses came narrowly. For sophomore Hannah Cimpeanu, the most recent Player of the Week in the G-MAC, the length of the match put her on the losing side. She lost the first two sets 6-4, 6-2, with many deuce games that were settled in the next point. The G-MAC dropped advantage scoring this season, effectively making deuce games win-by-two.
“If you had been watching the court, you wouldn’t have known who was winning because both girls were calm and steady,” Walbright said. “And they were both just creaming the ball.”
The tight match came down to a battle of consistency, according to Walbright.
“Her opponent was really steady,” she said. “She didn’t make many errors and had a nice game.”