With the end of the fall portion of its schedule fast approaching, the Hillsdale College women's tennis team continues to seek out challenges to prepare for the spring championship portion of their schedule.
The Chargers got stern tests at their annual home invitational on Sunday, competing against players from tough Midwest regional foe Wayne St., G-MAC rival Tiffin and St. Mary's College of South Bend, Indiana. Every Charger who competed recorded at least one victory on the day, giving Hillsdale something to build off of heading into its final match of the fall.
Three players won three matches overall to lead the Chargers. Junior Canela Luna won both of her singles matches, beating St. Mary's Allyssa Gulli 6-1, 6-2 in the Singles B flight and Alanya Campbell 6-0, 6-0 in a crossover match. Luna also teamed with sophomore Julia Wagner to split action in the Doubles B flight, beating a team from St. Mary's 6-0 before falling to Wayne St. in the final 6-1.
Sophomore Helana Formentin, meanwhile, went undefeated on the day for Hillsdale. The Grosse Ile, Michigan native beat Kathleen McLeod of St. Mary's 6-0, 6-1 and Jane Price of St. Mary's 7-5, 6-2 to win both her singles matches, and teamed with Wagner to beat a doubles team from Tiffin 6-0 in a Doubles E match.
Along with going 2-1 in her doubles matches, Wagner also won her lone singles match for the Chargers, beating Olivia Miller of Tiffin 8-1 in a single pro-set to finish 3-1 on the day as well.
Three more Chargers picked up a win on the court in singles play for Hillsdale. Senior Sophia Spinazze won a match in Singles D, beating Dominique Mattich-Reynolds of Tiffin 6-4, 6-0, and freshman Courtney Rittel beat Nikki Rust of St. Mary's 6-0, 6-0 in Singles G. Senior Tatum Matthews also won her match in Singles H for the Chargers, beating Chloe Bryan in an 8-0 pro-set.
All five of Hillsdale's doubles teams won at least one match on the day. Along with the Doubles B and Doubles E teams, Hillsdale's A team of senior Sarah Hackman and freshman Libby McGivern won a thrilling 7-6 (10) match over Tiffin's top team, the Chargers' C team of Spinazze and Matthews beat St. Mary's 6-0, and Hillsdale's D team of junior Ellie Chawner and Rittel also topped the team from St. Mary's 6-1.
The Chargers travel to Davenport on Saturday, Sept. 16 for their final match of the Fall, and will resume play in February for the conference portion of the season.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22
