Junior Ané Dannhauser playing at the Chargers’ Summer Invitational Sept. 6-7
Courtesy | Hillsdale Charger Athletic Department

The women’s tennis team launched their season at the Chargers’ Summer Invitational Sept. 6-7 where each Charger secured at least one match win.  

Sophomore Emma Palus and freshmen Dimitra Papastavrou, Sydney Singh, and Esther Sura have joined the Chargers for the 2025-26 season. All three players competed in three singles matches and three doubles matches at the invite.

The Chargers’ singles teams had a strong showing in the tournament, with junior Ané Dannhauser beating Paola Herrera Rivera of Lawrence Tech University 6-2, 6-0 and Yadi Mara of Ferris State University 6-1, 6-4, before losing in the A bracket finals match. Dannhauser placed second overall in the A bracket. 

Sophomore Briana Rees won her opening round match in the A bracket, defeating Claudia Calabuig of Lawrence Tech 6-2, 6-3. 

Papastavrou placed second in the B bracket, having defeated Rocio Lopez Alcerro from Lawrence Tech 6-1, 6-1, and Anastasia Diamantopoulos of SVSU 6-2, 1-6, 10-5.

All Chargers in the C and D singles brackets secured a victory in their opening round matches as well.  

The invitational also saw the success of many Chargers doubles teams. 

Dannhauser and Rees won two of their three matches and placed third overall in the A bracket for the invitational, while sophomore Julia Zlateva and Sura earned runner-up honors in the B bracket. 

Dannhauser said despite the quick turnaround, she considered the invitational a great experience and was excited for the next competition.

“I look forward to continuously improving and starting stronger,” Dannhauser said.

Although the team was successful, head coach Melanie Zampardo said she intends to use this competition as a learning experience.

“I was super pleased but, as always, there certainly is stuff to work on,” Zampardo said.

The 2025-26 season is the first one with Zampardo as head coach of women’s tennis, and she said she is excited to see where the season will take her and the team.

Rees said she is thankful for the many practices before their next competition and intends to use that time to learn from her mistakes.

“Because we have a lot of practices before our next invitational, we should do better than this past weekend,” Rees said. “Yes, we are nervous, but we are also excited to see how it goes.” 

The Chargers will compete at the Charger Fall Invitational Sept. 19-20 at home.