INDIANAPOLIS - The Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s & Women’s Tennis Athletes of the Week were selected with representatives from Findlay and Hillsdale taking home the honors.
The Findlay men and the Hillsdale women both went 2-0 over the past week to strengthen their positions with the conference standings. These performances will culminate towards the Great Midwest Championships, which will take place April 20-21.
Three of the four men’s teams have secured their tournament bids with Hillsdale, Findlay and Walsh, all clinching. Cedarville and Davis & Elkins will determined the final men’s field.
The Hillsdale and Walsh women are both unbeaten in the Great Midwest standings and have also booked a date into the postseason tourney.
Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week
Carlos Blanco
Findlay
Senior
Caracas, Miranda (Fray Luis Amigo)
Blanco has been steady this season for the Oilers and has posted a 9-8 record in singles to this point and a 10-8 with doubles partner Nicholas Kopylec.
That was enhanced with a 4-0 overall record from Blanco over the past week. He went 2-0 in both singles and doubles.
The Oilers started off the week with an 8-1 win at home against Cedarville. Blanco took his singles decision 6-2, 6-3 over Jonathan Class in the No. 2 spot. He then paired with Kopylec to take the No. 1 doubles spot against Class again and Matt Brumbaugh 8-4.
The next day Findlay hosted Davis & Elkins and took the decision 7-2. Blanco stayed sharp with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Andrew Shand. He and Kopylec completed the weekend sweep with a victory over Matthew O. Mulyadi and Alejandro Meseguer 9-7.
This put the Oilers at 9-9 on the season, but with an impressive 6-1 record in conference play.
Blanco is also now a two-time conference athlete of the week award winner in men’s tennis.
Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week
Halle Hyman
Hillsdale
Junior
Oakland Township, MI (Rochester Adams HS)
Hyman made program history this week when she was selected for the third time as the league’s women’s tennis Athlete of the Week.
The Chargers moved into the top 50 of the ITA National Rankings at No. 47 and have won eight consecutive matchups.
Hyman is 7-6 in singles play, but 4-1 in the No. 1 singles spot, which is a tough position to be placed in. She and partner Hannah Cimpeanu are 12-2 in doubles play and own the best winning percentage as a group in the conference this season.
Last week was no exception as Hyman and the 47
th-ranked Chargers took down their two conference foes in dominating fashion. The junior started off the weekend hosting Alderson Broaddus and taking down Rhea John 6-3, 6-0, in the No. 1 singles spot.
She then paired with Cimpeanu to take down John again as well as Eva Sever in the No. 1 doubles spot by a score of 8-2.
She followed that up on Sunday as the Chargers defeated Davis & Elkins, 9-0. Hyman beat Elise Simon in her singles match 6-2, 6-3, before she and Cimpeanu took down Ester Bolmenas and Laura Vargas, 8-1, to complete her personal 4-0 weekend.
This improved the Chargers to 10-4 on the season and 5-0 in the conference.