Hillsdale women’s tennis defeated the Findlay Oilers 7-2 on Sunday, Sept. 16, clinching its first team win of the season.
“It was really exciting,” said freshman Sydney Delp. “Finally, our hard work and effort paid off after such heartbreakingly close losses to really good teams. Everyone really contributed to the success.”
The Chargers won every set between no. 1 singles and nos. 1 and 2 doubles.
Senior Brittany Parks won 6-0, 6-0 at no. 1 singles, then teamed up with sophomore Morgan Delp for an 8-0 shutout at no. 1 doubles.
Freshmen doubles partners Sydney Delp and Lindsay Peirce also secured an 8-0 victory, dominating their opponents.
“It was a good match and everyone played well,” said team captain, senior Brittany Parks. “We beat Findlay last year, so we all knew we had to go out there and defend our victory.”
Parks said that their 7-2 loss to Wayne State University two days before didn’t discourage the team.
“The fact that we played well gave us something to take away,” Parks said. “You can’t let a defeat hold you back, especially when you have matches close together.”
Sydney Delp was equally positive about the team’s performance against Wayne State.
“We went up against a really good team on Friday,” Sydney Delp said. “But we had a really strong start. Going into singles we were up 2-1. All of our singles matches were really close and the match could have gone either way.”
This upcoming weekend, Parks, Sydney Delp, and sophomore Morgan Delp are attending the ITA regionals individual tournament.
“It will be fun,” said Parks. “It’s an individual-style tournament with brackets and draws competitors from all over the Midwest. We’ll face players outside of the GLIAC.”
Sydney Delp is especially looking forward to the tournament since she will be playing doubles with her sister, Morgan.
“We haven’t been able to play doubles since high school!” Sydney Delp said.
After the tournament, nearly every weekend until the end of the season will be filled with matches, Delp said.
“[Coach Walbright] was really happy to get a win under our belt and give everyone some confidence to carry us forward into our next few matches,” said Parks. “We know that we’re a better team going into the next weekend of matches, that we can beat them. I always have high expectations and think we can do really well.”
