Box Score
On the same day it was announced as preseason conference favorites, the Hillsdale College men's tennis team put together a strong performance, winning its indoor season opener Friday night at the Margot V. Biermann Center.
Hillsdale topped Daemen College 8-1 in a non-league matchup, improving to 2-0 on the season.
Despite the one-sided score, several Chargers had to survive tough battles in order to come out on top. The longest match of the night came at No. 5 singles, where John Ciraci gutted out a 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 11-9 victory. He needed a tiebreaker to win the first set, then had to bounce back from a set 2 loss to win a lengthy deciding set. It was the kind of match that had to please coach Keith Turner, seeing one of his players step up in a tough test right away.
Milan Mirkovic easily won his match at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0. Charlie Adams, one of the conference's top sophomores, won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. Freshman Gabe Katz was victorious at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-3, and senior Dugan Delp rounded out the singles competition with a 6-3, 6-1 win in the No. 6 flight.
Adams teamed up with junior Justin Hyman for an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles. The other two doubles matches were close, with the Chargers coming out on top in both. Ciraci and Delp were 9-7 winners at No. 2 doubles, and Michael Szabo joined Julien Clouette for an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles.
