The Hillsdale College women's tennis team peaked at a perfect time this fall with a strong showing in the ITA Midwest Regional this past weekend in Grand Rapids.
Fall collegiate women's tennis is structured around the ITA Regionals, which bring together all the top players at the NCAA DII in each of the country's eight regions to compete for singles and doubles titles.
In one of the Chargers' best showings ever, Hillsdale still had three players alive in brackets on Monday, the third day of the three-day event.
Junior
Ane Dannhauser led the way with Hillsdale's best ever singles performance in an ITA Midwest Regional. Playing in the top A bracket against the region's best players and seeded fifth, Dannhauser won four straight matches to reach the semifinal round, taking down Esther Magnusson of Roosevelt 6-1, 6-0 and Alexandra Nikonenko of Michigan Tech 6-1, 6-4, then emerging victorious from seeded showdowns against No. 10 Madeline Peisley (7-6 [2], 2-6, 10-4) and No. 13 Nicoletta Diamantopoulos of Saginaw Valley State (6-4, 2-6, 6-2) to make the deepest-ever run by a Charger woman in the A Bracket.
Dannhauser's run came to an end in the semis in a matchup with the top-seeded player in the region, Eleanor Coleman of Rockhurst, but not before the junior had made history for Hillsdale.
Along with Dannhauser, sophomore
Briana Rees also picked up a victory in the A Draw, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Cristina Mendoza Romero of Illinois-Springfield. The pair of Dannhauser and Rees also teamed up for a strong showing in the A doubles bracket, taking down teams from Grand Valley State (8-4) and Saginaw Valley State (8-4) before falling in the quarterfinal round.
In the B singles draw, Hillsdale had two players advance in the main bracket, and a third make a deep consolation bracket run. Sophomore
Julia Zlateva did real damage as an unseeded player for the Chargers in the B draw, beating Jane Carter of Illinois-Springfield 6-4, 6-2 and Erin Hack of Davenport 6-1, 4-6, 12-10, then pulling a spirited upset of third-seeded Kalomoira Ralli of GVSU (3-6, 6-3, 10-8) in the Round of 16 before her run came to an end in the quarterfinal.
Freshman
Dimitra Papastavrou also won her opening round match in the B draw, 6-1, 6-1 over Anna Matino of Quincy, before falling to the top seeded player from UIndy in the second round.
Sophomore
Emma Palus lost her opening-round match in the B draw, but made an impressive consolation bracket run, picking up three straight victories before falling in the consolation semifinal. Palus beat Ekaterina Khardina of Michigan Tech 6-0, 6-4, Katarina Yates of Tiffin 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 and Imani Shah of Tiffin 6-2, 6-3 on her run.
In the B doubles bracket, both of Hillsdale's doubles teams picked up at least one main draw win. The Chargers' team of Papastavrou and freshman
Esther Sura matched the A team's quarterfinal run with one of their own in the B draw, beating a team from SVSU 8-4 on the way. Hillsdale's other B draw team of seniors
Megan Hackman and
Isabella Spinazze won an 8-0 opening round match over a team from Davenport as well.
The C draw saw two more deep runs for the Chargers. In singles,
Sydney Singh drew the top seed for Hillsdale and bounced back after an opening round upset to claim the consolation bracket title with four straight wins. Singh beat Ashley Reinhart of Tiffin 6-2, 6-0, Vivian Burns of Ferris State 6-4, 6-1, Kaitlyn Brown of Quincy 6-1, 6-0 and third-seeded Lexia Goldberg of UIndy 6-0, 6-2 in the final to win the title.
The Chargers also got a main draw title in doubles in the C Bracket, as Hillsdale's pairing of sophomores Zlateva and Palus won three straight matches to claim the crown. The sophomore duo beat a team from McKendree 8-3 and a team from Rockhurst 8-5 to reach the final, where they took an 8-3 victory to win the crown.
The Regional performance caps a solid fall season for the Chargers, who now head into winter training ahead of the spring championship season to come. The Chargers will kick off spring competition at home on Jan. 31 with a match against Michigan Tech.
