The Hillsdale men’s tennis team finished their fall season strong last weekend, with junior Brennan Cimpeanu earning his second G-MAC player of the week for the fall season at the Northwood Men’s Invitational against Walsh University and host school Northwood University.
“The day before the tournament we found out that Findlay pulled out and that Tiffin wasn’t going to be there either, taking some of the grandeur out of the event,” senior Tyler Conrad said. “This weekend makes me feel like we have a lot to prove this spring. We didn’t go out and dominate the tournament as expected, so we have a lot of work to do in the offseason, so we can show we are the top team in the G-MAC.”
The home match against the Indiana Tech Warriors on Sept. 25 set the Chargers up for a successful G-MAC Invitational with a strong performance and a final score of 4-3. In doubles, Cimpeanu and junior Sean Barstow won their match.
“Our strength was our singles matches since we won 4 out of the 6,” freshman Nik Wastcoat said. “Our weakness was doubles where we had some small problems and many mistakes that won’t happen again.”
Cimpeanu at No. 1 singles, Conrad at No. 2 singles, Barstow at No. 4 singles, and Wastcoat at No. 6 singles all came out with wins for the Chargers.
“Personally I did very well,” Wastcoat said. “I had made some big mistakes in the doubles match and we ended up losing doubles, so I am very proud of myself for being able to shake that off and clinch the win for the team. For the upcoming invitational I want to improve my decision making on court and make less small mistakes.”
At the Invitational on Friday, Sept. 30, Cimpeanu beat both opposing schools’ No. 1 singles players: Northwood (6-3, 6-4) and Walsh (7-6 (5), 6-2). On Saturday, he also came away with a victory against Walsh (6-3, 6-1). Because of his strong performance, he was named G-MAC player of the week.
“This was the first time we’ve had this tournament,” senior Bogdan Janicijevic said. “It went okay, but not great. We gotta do better. However Brennan did amazing as he won all his matches and thus deservedly got G-MAC player of the week.”
Barstow finished 2-1 in singles, beating both his Walsh and Northwood opponents on Friday. Junior Daniel Gilbert, Wastcoat, freshman Lennart Kober, and Janicijevic all claimed a victory in their singles matches.
“We had a lot of problems last year so we lost a bunch of matches, which we were not used to,” Janicijevic said. “We have to practice a lot and get that confidence back, and then surely we will have a great season, and be one of the biggest contenders for the conference title.”
Cimpeanu and Barstow beat the No. 1 doubles teams for both Walsh and Northwood. The other three doubles teams finished 1-1 with Conrad and freshman Aidan Pack picking up a win against Walsh. Senior Brian Hackman and Wastcoat and Gilbert and Kober picked up wins against Northwood.
“Walsh and Northwood have better teams than expected, and our team didn’t play its best,” Conrad said. “This is the first year of this invitational existing, so hopefully it goes better in the future. I played alright personally. I lost 3 close singles matches against some of the best in the G-MAC, and won both my doubles matches.”
After October, due to NCAA restrictions, the team’s practice time will be cut down to a maximum of eight hours a week. The Chargers’ first match back will be against Cornerstone University on Feb. 4, 2023.
“This weekend and the entire fall season was okay, so that gives us some confidence for the spring season,” Janicijevic said. “We are looking much better than last season, however we still gotta work very hard because other G-MAC teams are stronger than ever. Brian is coming back from an injury so he will be a huge addition when he is at 100%. The freshmen are also doing well and they keep improving, so I believe we will be very good by the time spring season comes.”
