Last weekend, the Hillsdale College men’s tennis team lost 0-7 against Grand Valley State University, but followed it up with a 6-1 win against Purdue Northwest University.
“Energy has been our main focus,” sophomore Sean Barstow said. “On Saturday against Grand Valley, energy and morale was kind of what set us off.”
Junior Tyler Conrad said the loss was tough, especially because the Chargers beat GVSU last year.
“Grand Valley brought a very good team this year,” Conrad said.” We had a couple of our guys injured; we didn’t have our full lineup.”
Injuries include no.1 player sophomore Brennan Cimpeanu, who rolled his ankle in a previous match.
“Everyone wanted to get a win,” Barstow said. “It was kind of demoralizing after Saturday, and we knew this was a more winnable match on Sunday. I think everyone came in with a good mindset.”
On Sunday, the Chargers bounced back to defeat Purdue Northwest 6-1.
“With this last game, since everyone had to play a higher spot than they were used to, and since we didn’t do well on Saturday, it definitely gave the players some confidence that they didn’t have before, or that they didn’t know they had,” said Cimpeanu.
Taking over as no. 1 singles, Barstow won in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, while he and Conrad won at no. 1 doubles 7-6 (10-8). Barstow earned G-MAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, his first player of the week award of his career.
“Purdue Northwest has a pretty good team,” Conrad said. “They always give us a tough time. We beat them 6-1, which was pretty impressive, considering that we didn’t have Brennan, our top guy.”
Conrad won at no. 2 singles 6-4, 6-0, while freshman Daniel Gilbert won 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Freshman Jonathan Degtyraryov won 6-1, 6-1 while junior Bogdan Janiciejevic finished off his match 6-3, 6-0 to bring the Chargers the victory.
“Hopefully we have our full lineup this weekend, but we don’t know for sure,” Conrad said. “It’s uncertain right now, but we’re hoping.”
The Chargers take on Davenport University Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 9 a.m. before taking on Ferris State in Big Rapids at 2:30 p.m.
The Panthers are undefeated on the season, sitting at 5-0 over both semesters, winning the last three matches 8-1, 4-3, 4-3.
The Bulldogs are also undefeated at 3-0 this semester, with 7-0, 7-0, 6-1 victories.
“We have some tough opponents this weekend, but if we play like we did on Sunday we should be fine,” said Barstow.
