After a tough weekend, the Hillsdale College men’s tennis team came home with two losses.
On Saturday, the Chargers took a 9-0 loss at Wayne State University in Detroit, and Sunday they took on Northwood in Midland, falling 8-1.
“We’re just not at that level this year yet,” head men’s tennis coach Keith Turner said. “It was predictable what was going to happen, but the matches were closer than how they appeared in the final score. We made them work for it.”
Despite the losses, Turner said a number of players showed great improvement.
“John Ciraci played the best doubles he’s played all year. Both matches he and his partner did well, and were able to pull out a No. 2 win against Northwood, and Jerry Hewitt really showed some improvement all weekend.”
Ciraci said the team played well in doubles all around, and these matches were good experience going into the coming weeks, during which pressure will stay high.
“We knew the pressure was really high, so I was trying to do everything I could to get a win for the team,” he said. “We played pretty well overall.”
Next weekend, the men will play Walsh University and Tiffin University at home, on the newly dedicated courts.
“On paper they aren’t quite as strong, they should be a little bit closer match up,” Turner said. “We need to win at least two of the next three matches to make it to conference tournaments.”
Before christening the new outdoor courts on Saturday against Walsh University at 1 p.m., the Chargers will dedicate the courts to Mary Jane Delp. On Sunday, the Chargers will play at home again, playing Tiffin University at 1 p.m.
