The Hillsdale College men's tennis team took on the challenge of the biggest event of its fall calendar this weekend, traveling to Grand Rapids for the ITA Midwest Regional, and held their own against the best in the region at the NCAA DII level.

Hillsdale was shorthanded for the event, which puts all of the region's top players into singles and doubles draws, with two players sidelined with injuries, but the Chargers' two freshmen were healthy and impressed.

Patrick Cretu bounced back from a close loss in the opening round to make a long run through the Flight B consolation bracket in singles, beating Ian Lewis of William Jewell 7-5, 6-3, Harry Senior of Tiffin 6-4, 6-3 and Markos Prentits of Maryville 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinal round.

Fellow freshman Jackson Clements also picked up a solid victory in the B draw, taking down Juan Pablo Espinosa of Roosevelt 6-2, 6-0 to reach the round of 32 before falling in a three-set thriller.

Junior Henry Hammond also won his opening match in the B draw, taking down Lorenzo Galeno of Tiffin 6-0, 3-6, 10-7 in a thriller, and pushed the second seed, Vladislav Gorbatenko of UIndy, to a first set tiebreak before falling in the round of 32.

In the C Draw, Rintaro Goda also made a solid run in the consolation bracket, beating Pablo Alcon Palacios of UIndy 6-2, 6-2, and Milan Todorovic of Illinois-Springfield 6-4, 6-1 to reach the consolation semifinal as well.

In doubles, Cretu and Hammond teamed up for an opening-round win in the B doubles draw, pulling out a thrilling match in a 10-8 tiebreak over Benjamin Hill and Maxence Faniel of Wayne State.

Hillsdale wraps up the fall with an exhibition match against Northwood on the road this Saturday, before turning its focus to training for the spring campaign set to begin on Jan. 31 with a match against Michigan Tech.