Closing out their regular season with a 5-4 upset win over the defending GLIAC champion Wayne State Warriors, the Hillsdale College women’s tennis team is gearing up for the GLIAC tournament.
After a series of matches held before and throughout fall break, the Chargers closed the regular season with a conference record of 7-4, good enough for sixth place heading into the GLIAC tournament. The Chargers will face Wayne State for the second time in a week in the opening round of the tournament tomorrow night.
The flurry of matches began on Oct. 10 when the Chargers fell to the Northwood Timberwolves, 7-2.
“I don’t think we played our best,” head coach Nikki Walbright said. “We definitely have room for some improvement.”
Despite the team’s loss, Walbright mentioned good individual wins by freshmen Halle Hyman at No. 1 singles and Madeline Bissett at No. 6 singles.
The following day, the Chargers defeated Saginaw Valley 6-3.
“It was a really good, exciting day,” Walbright said. “The girls showed up to play and it went really well.”
The Chargers remained on campus during fall break in order to maintain their training and competition schedules.
Thursday’s match against Northwestern Ohio proved difficult for Hillsdale, as the Chargers fell 6-3.
Senior Sydney Delp said because the team stayed over fall break, they “were able to stay focused,” allowing the team to get extra match play against Northwestern Ohio, a non-conference team.
On Friday, Hillsdale faced Wayne State in their last dual match of the fall season. The Chargers’ 5-4 win over the Warriors marked the first time in Walbright’s career as coach at Hillsdale that the Chargers defeated Wayne State.
“They are a good team, and it was a really exciting day,” Walbright said. “The girls definitely came out ready to play. It was the best match, top to bottom, that our team has played all year.”
The match came down to a tie-breaking match played by freshman Madeline Bissett. After dropping the first set, Bissett fought and won the second and third sets to secure the victory for the Chargers.
“When I was down 2-5 in the second set, I looked over at my team and coach and knew that I had to do it for them,” Bissett said. “I knew I was going to have to toughen up and grind it out.”
With a big win under their belts, the women now focus their attention on the three-day GLAIC tournament set to commence tomorrow evening at the Midland Community Tennis Center.
“I think our team is peaking at just the right time,” Delp said. “We hadn’t played our best tennis yet in the season, but now we are. It’s what makes us just feel so good going into the tournament.”
