Despite falling to the Milwaukee Panthers on Jan. 22, the Hillsdale women’s tennis team played with confidence and composure, according to freshman Isabella Spinazze, in a hard-fought exhibition doubleheader at the River Glen Elite Sports Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Panthers grabbed the doubles points in the opening match of the day. Junior Melanie Zampardo and freshman Megan Hackman gave the Panthers a run for their money with 6-2, 6-1 leads in their first sets respectively. In the end, Zampardo took a 6-2, 5-7, 11-13 loss at No. 2 singles, and Hackman finished with a 6-1, 2-6, 10-6 loss at No. 5 singles.
Hackman said she focuses on mentally preparing for each match.
“Before matches, I mentally prepare by visualizing my match, how I want to be playing, and how I want to be thinking throughout,” Hackman said.
Hackman also said she sharpens her skills by prioritizing practice time with her sister, senior Sarah Hackman, who is also on the team.
At the No.1 spot, Sarah and Zampardo tied 4-4 in doubles play. With one point needed to settle the match, Zampardo took a 6-7, 3-4 loss for the Chargers in the second dual of the day.
Senior Ellie Chawner and Spinazze also put up a tough fight in the second match, resulting in a 4-4 tie at No. 3 doubles.
“My doubles match with senior Ellie Chawner really stuck out to me,” Spinazze said. “We both came into the match with a lot of confidence and I played some of my best tennis. Right before the match, Coach had told us to have more confidence in ourselves — that’s exactly what we did, and it showed in our play.”
Overall, the players said that competing against the Milwaukee Panthers was a fantastic learning experience for the Hillsdale women’s tennis team. Sophomore Courtney Rittel said she enjoyed the scrimmages despite the tough competition.
“It was a long weekend for us in Wisconsin,” Rittel said. “The Milwaukee Panthers are a very solid DI team, and it was both fun and challenging to play them. The team really rose to the challenge and played some incredible matches. Unfortunately we fell short, but we kept it competitive all the way through.”
Spinazze agreed with Rittel on the intensity of Sunday’s doubleheader.
“Our team fought really hard,” Spinazze said. “Going up against a DI team was intimidating, but no one played scared or acted like they didn’t belong on the court. We had some really close matches and everyone took the opportunity to get better. Even though we did not come back with a win, I felt like the doubleheader went very well. Everyone played surprisingly well for only having a few days of practice under their belt.”
Coach Liam Fraboulet said the girls proved that they were ready to tackle the spring season.
“The way we stood up against a DI opponent who was the better team on paper was pretty impressive,” Fraubolet said. “Everybody competed against tough players which was the purpose of this Milwaukee trip.”
Fraboulet said there are areas where he knows the team can improve.
“Our issue was closing the match, meaning that we were close to winning sets and matches but ended up losing them,” Fraboulet said. “We talked about how to overcome that. It was again the purpose of this trip, to give us that experience of winning those matches.”
The Chargers will begin a packed spring schedule by hosting Davenport University on Feb. 5.
“The team is super excited for our upcoming season this spring,” Rittel said. “This match showed us that we have what it takes to compete against a Division-1 team, and we are ready to bring all we have to the G-MAC this spring.”
