The Hillsdale College women’s tennis team wrapped up their spring season after falling 5-4 to Davenport and 6-3 to Aquinas this past weekend. The two losses brought the Chargers’ spring record to 2-3.
Friday brought stiff competition on the singles front. Junior Sydney Delp earned a 7-6, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles. At No. 5 singles, junior Jada Bissett battled back from a 6-1 loss in the first set for a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 win.
In doubles, both Sydney and Morgan Delp at No. 1 doubles and junior Lindsay Peirce and sophomore Dana Grace Buck at No. 2 doubles won their matches 8-4.
“It was very competitive,” head coach Nikki Walbright said. “The girls all had good spirits, and it was good to have a hard challenge. It was just unfortunate that it didn’t finish our way.”
Saturday’s match against Aquinas proved difficult for the team, despite strong performances from several players. Out of the three wins attributed to Hillsdale, two can be attributed to Buck’s strong performances, bringing home wins in both singles and doubles. At No. 4 singles, she won 6-0, 7-5, contributing the only singles win of the match. Then at No. 2 doubles, she again teamed up with Peirce to pull out an 8-3 victory.
The final win of the day belonged to the Delp sisters at No. 1 doubles. Playing their final match together, the duo defeated their competitors 9-7 in a toughly fought match.
“We were down 7-4. It was one that we could have easily just let go or given up,” Sydney said. “But I think we both, even though we never said it to each other, wanted to end on a winning note.”
Morgan Delp finishes her college tennis career as the first four-year player since the program was revived in 2011.
With a long list of accomplishments both on and off the court, Peirce said Morgan’s role as leader and role model for the team is one-of-a-kind, and she will be missed.
“It’s going to be hard to see Morgan leave, but she’s taught us well,” Peirce said. “The three rising seniors–me, Sydney [Delp], and Rachel [Blaauw]–just hope to fill her shoes as best we can, even though it won’t be close at all.”
Now the team looks forward to training hard during the summer months in preparation for the fall season, in which the team will welcome four incoming freshman athletes.
“We want to come back in the fall ready to go right away,” Peirce said. “We don’t want our preseason to be a warm-up or a training time for our first match weekend. So we’re really excited to have out four freshmen. They will be great talent and just an extension of our personality and just what our team stands for as a whole.”
