HILLSDALE, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's tennis team opened the 2019 season Saturday with a 7-0 loss at Hillsdale College. The Huskies had some close contests despite the Chargers taking all the points in the non-conference match.
"I was pretty happy with how we played, especially in doubles competition today against a solid Hillsdale team," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "Our younger players are making progress in figuring out how to be successful in doubles contests. We still have a little work to do in singles, in that we give away too many easy points while not getting enough wins in big points during the match. We are looking forward to getting back on the court tomorrow to compete against a good Tiffin team."
Hillsdale jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in Saturday's match by claiming wins in all three of the doubles contests. Michigan Tech (0-1) fought hard though in all three doubles spots in the lineup, beginning with Mario Neto and Siddhesh Mahadeshwar taking on Charlie Adams and Justin Hyman in one doubles. Adam and Hyman were able prevail 6-4, but not before going wire to wire with Neto and Mahadeshwar.
Nico Caviglia and Ignacio Carbajosa forced a tie breaker in No. 2 doubles, but fell to John Ciraci and Brian Hackman 7-6 with a tie break score of 7-4. Juan Felipe Chica and Nathan Sodini teamed up in No. 3 doubles and gave the duo of Michael Szabo and Gabe Katz a solid challenge before falling 6-3 in the end.
Trailing 1-0 the Huskies had some work to do going into the singles portion of Saturday's match. Adams got past Neto in No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-1) while Hyman topped Caviglia (6-2, 6-1) in No. 2 singles Saturday. Carbajosa battled Ciraci in No.3 singles barley losing the first set 6-3 before Ciraci pulled away for a 6-1 win in set two.
In No. 4 singles, Mahadeshwar fell behind in set one 6-1 but battled back in set two before coming up just short against Michael Szabo 6-3. Jerry Hewiit of Hillsdale got past Felipe Chica 6-2, 6-1 in No. 5 singles and in No. 6 singles Sodini took Freddie Heegan to three sets. Sodini jumped out to a lead thanks to a 6-3 victory in set one before Heegan bounced back to take set two 6-3. The two players traded points in the third set before Heegan slipped past in the end 11-9.
The Huskies will be back on the court to take on Tiffin University in a non-conference match Sunday at the Midland Tennis Center in Midland, Michigan. The first serve in doubles competition is scheduled for 9 a.m. eastern time.
