Clippers Defeat #6 Rollins...

In another exciting college tennis match, your Clippers defeated/upset the Tars of Rollins College 6-3. Rollins is currently ranked #6 by the ITA among NCAA II teams.

We knew that we had to get the good start in the doubles and try to get out at least 2-1. However, we did not start strong anywhere. Perhaps there was some sort of hangover from the two exciting matches at ERAU and Flagler. In the blink of an eye we were down two breaks on courts 1 and 3. Luckily court 2 was hanging in there. We went on the win #2 doubles with a late match run 8-3. Down 6-2 on court 1, we turned the tide and won the next 6 games to capture the 8-6 win. On court 3, David and Andreas started to climb out of the huge hole that they created and did get back to 7-6. However, they were not able to break against the wind and lost 8-6. I certainly was happy with the two wins but we really could have taken all three. However, when you are playing a team as good as Rollins, you are happy with 2 points in doubles for sure.

We liked the match ups in singles and were not disappointed with the collective effort. Rollins is a great team and was in no way ready at any time to roll over and give us the match. Rather, they were fighting for each and every point on every court. I was very impressed with the Rollins team and they will be a force all season.

Andreas and Daniele at 6 an 2 were off to good starts and were able to win to get us to 4 points. Tamas was grinding as usual and took a tough first set at 4. Andrey, Felix and David all dropped first sets at 1, 5, ad 3 respectively. Clearly this was a battle. David and Andrey were able to fight back and take second sets but Felix was not as fortunate as he lost in straight sets. David lost his third making the score 4-3. However, needing only one more point to take the match, both Tamas and Andrey pulled out hotly contested matches to give us the 6-3 win.

In some ways, it is hard to believe the success we are having here in Florida against these great teams. We have a strong team for sure but to come here into these conditions and play such tough matches on consecutive days is quite impressive and maybe even a little surprising. In any case, we are very happy with the effort.

Today we will play #1 Barry at Flagler College at 12 noon. Clearly, we will need to be even better today. I think we have a chance if we bring the good tennis to the court but it will not be an easy task. One could argue that this is our toughest match of the year. I hope that the guys answer the bell again. I think that they will and hope to be reporting a win later today. Either way, I am so proud of the team and coaches for the success.

Wish us luck.

Nuff said...