Alex Cordero- Lopez jumps into the air to strike ball at home match
Courtesy | Hillsdale Athletic Department

Freshman Patrick Cretu earned the Hillsdale men’s tennis team its second and last point from a 6-2, 6-4, win against Goshen College at No. 5 singles, with the overall match ending in a 5-2 loss for the Chargers at home Feb. 7.

“Patrick is doing a great job,” head coach Keith Turner said. “He keeps improving every week.  He’s a guy that I hope I can move further up in the lineup as the season progresses.”

The Chargers lost all three doubles matches, the doubles point, and four singles matches against the Maple Leafs on Saturday. The team is now 2-1 on the season.

At doubles, junior Ellis Klanduch and sophomore Ryan Papazov competed in the top match, falling to their opponents 6-3. 

Papazov said he and Klanduch have a friendship on and off the court that allows them to be good partners.

“We really try to motivate one another, especially if one of us is struggling on the day or struggling in the moment,” Papazov said. “We are able to be there for one another and try to get the other going.”

Papazov also competed in the top singles match, winning the first set 6-3, losing the second set 6-2, and losing the third set 6-3 to hand over the win to Goshen. 

Papazov said he was able to get ahead early on in his singles match but lost focus. Going into the next match, he wants to be more intentional with his decision-making and step through the ball more.

“It’s a lot to work on, but I know we’ve got the week ahead of us practice-wise, we are going to be on the court every day, and it’s something I will be focusing on in practice,” Papazov said. 

At No. 2 singles, sophomore Sam Plys played his opponent to a third-set tiebreaker, falling short to finish the match 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(6).

“When playing a tiebreaker set, usually I try to focus on going for my shots and being more aggressive, but I did not do that to the best of my ability last week,” Plys said.

Before Cretu won at No. 5 singles, junior Henry Hammond secured the first point for Hillsdale at No. 3 singles, defeating his opponent 6-3, 6-3.

Turner said Cretu and Hammond’s singles plays were highlights of the match, but the team’s overall performance against the Maple Leafs revealed that there are still areas the Chargers need to improve in.

“We need to make more returns and lessen the amount of unforced errors in both singles and doubles,” Turner said.

The Chargers will compete against Purdue University Northwest in their fourth straight home match Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.