With three freshmen and a sophomore in its six-man lineup, the Hillsdale College men's tennis team has an experience disadvantage at the collegiate level against nearly every team it's played this season.
But the Chargers are growing up fast, and those inexperienced freshmen are consistently outwitting older and more battle-tested players.
The latest example came at the Grand Rapids Racket and Fitness Club on Saturday, as Hillsdale stunned a strong Grand Valley St. team 4-3 to improve to 5-0 on the season.
For the second-straight match, Hillsdale lost the doubles point to start the day, with only freshman Brennan Cimpeanu and Hillsdale's lone senior in the lineup, Gabe Katz, pulling out a 7-5 win at No. 2 doubles.
Facing an uphill battle in singles play, the Chargers came through to pull off the upset. Sophomore Tyler Conrad won at No. 1 singles, overcoming a heartbreaking first set loss that went to an 8-6 tiebreak by winning the second set 6-2 and then getting his revenge in a 7-6 (4) tiebreak third-set victory to win the point.
Cimpeanu won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles and junior Brian Hackman won 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to tie the match at 3-3, and freshman Daniel Gilbert finished the job in a thrilling three-set victory of his own at No. 5 singles, wearing down his opponent in a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory to seal the win for the Chargers.
Hillsdale is now 5-0 overall with four wins against Midwest Regional opponents. The Chargers are back in action again today, Sunday, at 4:30 p.m. against perennial GLIAC champion Ferris State in a critical non-conference match for their next action.
Photo by Anthony Lupi