The Hillsdale College men's tennis team kicked off the 2025-26 season on its home court on Saturday and Sunday, with a great performance in doubles headlining the action in the Hillsdale Summer Invitational.

The Chargers' top two doubles teams dominated the A bracket of the four-team invitational, which included perennial G-MAC title contenders Findlay and Walsh, as well as NAIA Lawrence Tech.

Hillsdale's top doubles pairing of sophomore Sam Plys and Ryan Papazov won all three matches they played in the A bracket, beating teams from Walsh (8-2) and Findlay (8-5) to reach the final. Their opponents for the A bracket title were Hillsdale's second doubles pairing of sophomore Alex Cordero Lopez and freshman Patrick Cretu, who also vanquished teams from Findlay (8-4) and Walsh (8-5) to set up the matchup. In an intrasquad showdown for the crown, Papazov and Plys came away with an 8-4 victory.

The Chargers also got a win in B Doubles, as sophomore Rintaro Goda and freshman Jackson Clements bounced back from a semifinal loss to win an 8-6 match over a team from Findlay and claim third place in the flight.

Singles was tougher sledding for Hillsdale, though not without its successes. Plys picked up a hard-fought three-set win over Walsh's Joan Dasi, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 10-3 to reach the A bracket semifinal before bowing out of his draw, and Clements also made the C Bracket semifinal with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Maneo Gabourin of Findlay. 

In the D singles bracket, Goda made a run to the finals for the Chargers, with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Conner Nguyen of Findlay and a 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 victory over Cameron Davis of Findlay before falling in the championship match.

The experienced gained from this weekend's event should pay dividends in the upcoming ITA Midwest Regional, scheduled to begin on Sept. 27 in Grand Rapids. The three-day event puts all of the top NCAA DII tennis players in the Midwest Region into singles and doubles brackets, with spots in the ITA Cup, the de facto singles and doubles national championship, on the line.