Senior Sean Barstow concentrating during his match. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletics 

The men’s tennis team won two of three matches in the PTR Spring Tennis Fest on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, March 11-13.

The Chargers started off the Fest with a 6-1 win over West Virginia State University, winning the doubles point, and five of six matches in the single plays.

The Chargers won all three doubles securing the doubles point and a 1-0 lead in the match. Senior Sean Barstow and his partner, sophomore Aidan Pack, won 6-3 at No.1 doubles, starting the match on a high.

“They are a new team this year and have done a solid job,” head coach Keith Turner said. “They complement each other well.”

The Chargers claimed another victory in a match against Quincy University the following day. Seniors Tyler Conrad, Sean Barstow, and Daniel Gilbert each helped the team claim the 4-3 win by winning their singles. 

In the doubles play, the Chargers claimed the doubles point with Conrad and freshman Ellis Klanduch winning 6-3 at No.2 doubles, and Gilbert and freshman Henry Hammond winning 6-3 at No. 3 doubles.

Gilbert and Hammond said beating Quincy was one of their high moments from the weekend.

“They are a solid team and it took everyone being on their A-game to get the job done,” Gilbert said.

The Chargers finished off their week in the PTR Spring Tennis Fest with a 6-1 loss against the University of St. Louis NCAA D1 program.

“If a couple matches that we lost in tiebreaks went the other way, we potentially could have beat them,” Gilbert said.

Although the team lost, Turner said it was a confidence booster because it showed the players they are capable of playing against teams at a D1 level.

“Playing against the D1 team was really good because we got to experience playing against a higher performance team and we were getting close and were level with them which was fun,” Hammond said.

The Chargers will host Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday, March 23, as they head into the first match in the G-MAC play.

“We are hoping to start off the G-MAC portion of our schedule with a couple of wins,” Turner said. “We are also hoping for no losses by any of the players.”

Hammond encourages students to come watch the match.

“Not a lot of people understand tennis so it’s hard for them to get into it,” Hammond said. “But if you were to go to a tennis match and stay for a while and see what the atmosphere is like and how loud it is, and if you hear everyone cheer and you just join in and cheer with them, then it’s loads of fun.”