Tennis team freshman Rintaro Goda secured his first collegiate win in the first round of singles play at the Chargers Fall Invitational on Oct. 5. 

“Being able to win in front of my teammates after a rough few weeks of competition is incredible,” Goda said.

He won 6-4, 4-6, and 10-8, beating a Wayne State University competitor. The home event was the men’s tennis team’s last competition of the fall semester, and included opponents from Wayne State University and Purdue University Northwest. The event featured a round of doubles matches and two rounds of singles matches. 

The invitational started off with the Chargers handed losses in the doubles round. Sophomores Henry Hammond and Ellis Klanduch lost their doubles match 8-6 against a team from Wayne State, and freshmen Alex Cordero-Lopez and Samuel Plys lost 8-4 against a team from Purdue. 

Hammond said the team quickly tried to forget about their performance at doubles and focus on their future matches in order to secure as many wins as possible. Hammond also said bouncing back from a loss at doubles is something the freshman must learn to prepare for dual matches in the spring. 

“In the spring season, for dual matches, there are singles immediately after doubles and you aren’t going to always win the doubles point,” Hammond said. “So there’s a lot of encouragement to the freshman to forget about any doubles losses straight away and focus on the next match because dwelling on it achieves nothing.” 

Wayne State and Purdue brought a high level of play to the competition, but Hillsdale was able to make a strong showing at singles.

In the second round of singles, Cordero-Lopez secured a win over 2024 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional runner-up and top-15 ranked singles player in NCAA DII Cedric Drenth from Wayne State, where he pushed Drenth to the third set, winning in a 6-2, 4-6, 10-3 match. 

Cordero-Lopez said his win against Drenth gave him a confidence boost.

“I was able to see that my level had increased since the start of the fall and that I am able to play and win against the top guys in our region,” Cordero-Lopez said.

In round two of singles, freshman Eddie Bergelin also claimed a victory after defeating  a competitor from Wayne State 6-4, 6-2. 

The Chargers are now headed into winter training to prepare for the spring season.

“The plan for winter training is to go through a lot of pain and struggle, and try to build ourselves up strength and fitness wise as much as possible,” Hammond said.