Clippers Defeat #1 Team In Nation!!!

Wow! What can I say? How do you describe what it fells like to go undefeated in Florida while playing such great teams on consecutive days? How impressive for these young men to play four days in a row, get the job done and answer the bell and the coaches request for their best. HUGE! Just like my stomach...HUGE. Too much food on spring break here in Florida.

Yes, as I mentioned, in our last match, after playing three physical and emotional matches on consecutive days with tough conditions, we beat #1 Barry 6-3 (boxscore). We have never beaten the #1 team before and am pretty sure that this is the first time in Concordia athletics history that it has been done in any sport. Of course, Barry has beaten us in each of the last two seasons in the Final Four of tennis. Thus, it was nice to get this one. So nice to be rewarded for all of the hard work and effort and a nice boost of confidence going forward to achieve our May goals.

Today, we started out stronger in the doubles on all three courts. We changed it up a little and went with David/Felix at #2. Playing for the first time together, they were able to win 8-3. Talk about catching lightning in a bottle. Andrey and Dani also started strong and won 8-6 at #1. Playing #3, Geza and Tamas were in control the whole way but stumbled at the end and lost 9-7. This was their first loss of the season. We really could have swept the doubles and made our task much easier but it was not to be today. However, such a credit to the strength of this group that somebody different each day steps up and wins for the team.

Thus, we went into the singles up 2-1. Certainly happy with that even though having a third point was well within our grasp. In any case, we needed to battle once again and get three points to earn the victory. This was to be no easy task against Barry, a great team. Luckily we won 4.

Andrey defeated the #1 ranked player in NCAA II in three sets. Such a great 4 days for Andrey. We are very proud of his development and know that there is still plenty of room for improvement. Dani had a tough time at #2 and lost in straights to the #26 in the NCAA II. We need to get him a bit more focused. He has so much talent and just needs to get adjusted to college tennis. I expect that he will be a top 20 player in the division before too long. David, of course, played three sets but came up short. Tamas at #4 was in, what I like to call, "full grind mode" as always. He battled and defeated the #11 ranked player in the country, his best win to date. We continued the winning ways at #5 and #6 as Geza won a thrilling third set match tie-breaker 10-6 and Andreas won in straight sets.

What a tremendous effort for the team. All players 1-9 contributed to our success. I am so happy with Ricardo and Dane as well as they really help us in many ways. This is what we need as a team to achieve our goals.

We will travel back to NY today and to the cold...oh well. The good news is we will have a week of practice and be off to Las Vegas 3/13 for more great matches. I will remember to leave the ATM card at home as gambling is an NCAA violation and I have mastered the art of losing at casinos for sure. Thanks for all of your love, support and well-wishes while we have been in Florida. It makes this so much fun. I hope to share more of the good with you soon.

Nuff said...