The Hillsdale College women's tennis team closed out its fall schedule with a good showing in singles play at its home Fall Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, with two player going undefeated and five of Hillsdale's six players winning at least one match.
The Chargers welcomed Saginaw Valley State, Northwestern Ohio and Lawrence Tech for a two-day event played indoors in the Biermann Center due to rain. With four teams in action on Saturday and only four courts to play on, Hillsdale's matches against UNOH and Lawrence Tech were contested as first-to-8 super-tiebreaks rather than the traditional best-of-three-set format to make sure all matches were completed.
The Chargers proved adept at the shortened format, taking four of six singles matches from Lawrence Tech and splitting 3-3 against UNOH and on Sunday against SVSU. Leading the way for Hillsdale in singles play as sophomore
Ane Dannhauser, who won all three of her singles matches in the No. 1 position to continue a strong start to the season. Dannhauser took down UNOH's Munisa Ashurbekova 8-6 and Lawrence Tech's Paola Herrera 8-1 on Saturday before winning a best-of-three set match against SVSU's Lydia Liong 6-0, 6-1 on Sunday.
Matching Dnnhauser's undefeated performance in singles for the Chargers was freshman
Julia Zlateva, who impressed at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Zlateva took down Lawrence Tech's Miriam McCormick 8-1 and UNOH's Abagail Beck 8-3 on Saturday before gutting out an impressive three-set win over SVSU's Elizabth Stuart, 4-6, 6-3, 11-9, on Sunday.
Also in singles for the Chargers, senior
Libby McGivern wen 2-1 with an 8-0 win over Lawrence Tech's Isabella Aray and a 9-8 (3) tiebreak win over UNOH's Agathe Valliant.  Freshman
Briana Rees took an 8-1 win over Lawrence Tech's Olga Aliagas on Saturday as well, and junior
Isabella Spinazze won 6-3, 6-0 over SVSU's Alexis Anthes as well.
In doubles, Zlateva and Spinazze teamed up for two wins, beating SVSU's Stuart and Anthes in a thrilling tiebreak, 7-6 (7) as well as picking up a 6-1 win over Lawrence Tech's McCormick and Alcocer. Hillsdale's doubles teams of Dannhauser and Rees, as well as McGivern and
Courtney Rittel, each won 6-2 against their opponent from Lawrence Tech as well on Saturday.
The tournament completes Hillsdale's fall schedule, and the Chargers now turn their attention to winter training to prepare for the kickoff of the spring season on Feb. 1 with a home match against Michigan Tech.
Photo by Vinny Hill
