In the first two weeks of the Spring 2021 season, the fighting spirit of a young Hillsdale College men's tennis squad has stood out.
That was true again on the road on Saturday, as the Chargers downed host Purdue Northwest at the Park Forest Tennis and Health Club in Park Forest, Illinois, taking all seven points in a match that was closer than the score indicated.
Hillsdale took all three doubles matches to secure the doubles point, though not without a fight. Sophomore Tyler Conrad and freshman Sean Barstow pulled out a narrow 7-6 (4) win over the Pride at No. 1 doubles for the Chargers, freshman Brennan Cimpeanu and senior Gabe Katz won 6-3 at No. 2 doubles, and junior Brian Hackman and freshman Daniel Gilbert won 6-4 at No. 3 doubles.
In the singles flights, Hillsdale was also challenged, with three of the six matches against the Pride going to three sets, including two that were decided by narrow margins in the third set. But the Chargers' fighting spirit proved itself once again against Purdue Northwest, as all six Hillsdale singles players came away victorious in the end.
Conrad led the way with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 win over PNW's Miguel Agustin Flores Cepeda at No. 1 singles, and Barstow and Hackman also won three-set matches for the Chargers, with Barstow taking down the Pride's Luka Kirchhoff 6-1,2-6, 7-5 at No. 3 singles, and Hackman beating PNW's Levent Evyapan 7-5, 3-6, 10-8 at No. 4 singles.
Cimpeanu won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles over Leon Kah of PNW as well for Hillsdale, Gilbert defeated the Pride's Paul Hawes 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 singles, and Katz defeated Jonas Franssen of PNW 6-4, 7-6 (7) at No. 6 singles.
Hillsdale improved to 3-0 overall with the victory.
Photo by Anthony Lupi