Off with his hair...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Concordia (N.Y.) men’s tennis team earned its first ever win against Embry-Riddle edging the Eagles 5-4 on Thursday at the Crotty Tennis Complex. The Clippers, ranked ninth in NCAA II, improved their overall record to 3-2, while the fourth-ranked Eagles move to 6-2 on the year.

Wins at No.1 and No. 3 doubles gave the Clippers a 2-0 edge as Alex Grubin and Andrey Boldarev topped Jan Hoekzema and Alexis Huegas 8-4 and Tamas Dobrotka and Andreas Lindell bested Charlie Rice and Luke Maricic 8-3. The Eagles got a point back when Peter Francis and Istvan Bolgar rallied for an 8-6 win over Raphael Namias and Felix Missal at the second doubles spot. Zander Woodford-Smith quickly tied things up with a 6-0, 6-1 decision over Lindell at No. 6 and Rice’s 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Missal at No. 4 put the Eagles ahead 3-2. Dobrotka pulled the Clippers level again with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Bolgar at the fifth spot. The remaining three matches on the court all needed three sets to determine the outcome. After dropping the first set 6-3, Francis rallied to take the second set 6-1 but was unable to hold off Namias who took the third set 6-4. At No. 2 singles, Huegas won his first set 6-4, but a third set was forced when Boldarev grabbed the second 6-3. Huegas fell behind 5-2 in the third set but won the next two games to make the score 5-4. Boldarev managed to hold serve in the next game to score the clincher with a 6-4 win. #1 singles was decided in a match tie-breaker with Jan Hoekzema defeating Alex Grubin 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6).

This wraps up the spring trip on a positive note upsetting the good folks at Dell who were hoping for an order from yours truly for a new laptop. In other news, Coach Tarangioli vowed to shave his head given a win over Embry Riddle. I certainly look forward to him keeping his word and also the shine off his head in the Florida sun at the beach tomorrow on our day off. Luckily for me, I never make such promises. Well, to tell you the truth, considering the quagmire that Coach Neil calls a hairstyle, maybe this new look will be a good thing.

We will head back to New York 3/6/10 where we will have a short break until the conference schedule begins. I hope for an early spring and some nice warm weather. As always, be well everyone. Take one last look of Coach Neil with hair.

Nuff said...