OWENSBORO, Ky. – The clean sweep was pulled off by Hillsdale in two days at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship at the Owensboro Centre Court.
 
The championship final on Saturday culminated with the regular-season champion and top-seeded Chargers (14-4 overall) beating No. 2 seed Walsh, 5-1.
 
Hillsdale won its semifinal matchup on Friday against No. 4 Findlay while the Cavaliers advanced by taking down No. 3 seed Davis & Elkins.
 
Hillsdale’s strong 2017-18 campaign within the Great Midwest as a first-year institution continued following conference championship tournament trophies in the sports of women’s cross country, volleyball, women’s basketball, women’s indoor track and field and both genders of tennis.
 
Hillsdale celebrated a series of individual award winners at the championship banquet on Thursday evening as Nikki Walbright (Great Midwest Coach of the Year), Halle Hyman (Great Midwest Player of the Year) and Hannah Cimpeanu (Great Midwest Freshman of the Year) took home hardware.
 
The Chargers, ranked sixth in the NCAA DII Midwest Region rankings, will head to the NCAA Championship bracket as the conference’s automatic qualifier.
 
Hillsdale won at the point of decision in both postseason contests. The finishing touch in the championship match was a win in straight sets from sophomore Kamryn Matthews as she toppled Sofia Khairutdinova, 6-2, 6-1.
 
The Chargers took a 2-1 lead after winning the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles bouts with points from the tandems of Katie Bell/Corinne Prost and Matthews/Madeline Bissett.
 
Hillsdale then won three of the six singles before going final as Bissett, Bell and Matthews, all finished on the courts. The Chargers will go deeper into the postseason as winners of 12 straight with a streak that started back in early March against Broward.
 
Walsh concludes its successful season with an 11-12 overall record. Led by the all-conference pairing of Mercedes Fernandez and Clara Drasch, Walsh won a tough point at the No. 1 doubles contest.