The Hillsdale women’s tennis team fell short of grabbing its third match win in a row last weekend. On the road against the Grand Valley State Lakers, the Chargers lost with a final score line of 6-1.

Hillsdale started doubles with a win, as the No. 1 team, senior Sarah Hackman and junior Melanie Zampardo, earned the first victory of the day.

“Doubles was a highlight in the Grand Valley match,” Zampardo said. “Sarah and I came together and worked really well with each other to beat a nationally ranked team.”

Although the Chargers’ No. 2 and No. 3 teams played to narrow finishes, Grand Valley State took both matches, and the doubles point.

The singles matches were equally competitive, with Libby McGivern at No. 4 singles securing a three-set victory over her Grand Valley State opponent. After dropping the first set 6-2, McGivern rallied back to take the second set 6-4, before ultimately winning the third-set tiebreak 10-7, and securing the Chargers’ only point of the day.

At No. 5 singles, senior Ellie Chawner pushed her opponent to a third set, but lost by a 10-6 margin.

“No one gave up in singles either, despite having a strange week of practice with the power going out and us not being able to use the Biermann and having to go up a day early to practice,” Zampardo said.

Despite the loss, senior Canela Luna said she believes that they have what it takes to compete against strong opponents, and is hopeful that the team will build on this performance as the season progresses.

“I think we had a bad combination of the power outage, not practicing very much, and many physical ailments like sickness and injury throughout the team,” Luna said.

The Chargers now have a season record of 3-4 and will be traveling to Detroit for their next match against Wayne State on March 4.

“All in all, I am excited to see how we can bounce back from this, rally, and progress forward. This match just shows how much our team still can improve,” Luna said.