Nice arm...

Sailing to Philadelphia...

We are off to Philadelphia this morning to take on CACC foe The University of the Sciences. We will get on the road at 11:30am for the three hour drive and hope for minimal traffic so as to make the match at 3:00pm. I am not sure that the match time will eclipse the driving time.

We look to go 5-0 in the CACC...



Wish us luck.

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We had the Ruenz...

An update on recent grad and former Clipper netman Henning Ruenz...

Henning Ruenz (’09) recently sent the following comments: "I am proud to say that the education provided by Concordia was very satisfactory and prepared me well for life in the "competitive open market." I attribute this to the small class sizes that Concordia offers, which allow a more personal and interactive teaching style. In the professional but student-oriented class sessions, I benefited from both the theoretical and practical knowledge of the professors."

"As an international student from Germany, I felt warmly welcomed from the first moment. I am especially grateful for the support of my English teacher—enabling me to build a strong language basis to excel throughout my studies. Also, being part of the Fellows Program and the tennis team further enriched my Concordia experience. Looking back, I am very happy to have chosen Concordia College as it not only helped me grow academically, but also personally."

Last summer, Ruenz interned at the global headquarters of Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany. He worked for a Director of Product Management, completing assignments in market analysis and brand portfolio planning. This summer, Ruenz has a marketing internship at Henkel, the consumer products company in Düsseldorf.

Ruenz is in the midst of pursuing a Masters in International Management from ESADE/CEMS in Barcelona, Spain. There he was recognized as one of the school’s top students and this fall will attend the London School of Economics—among the world’s elite business schools. Concordia Business Chair Kit Nagel comments, "We’re delighted that Henning will attend the LSE; his strong undergraduate work here in International Management clearly prepared him well. He is a fine individual and this is an unprecedented achievement for a Concordia graduate."

Please join me in congratulating Henning, keep up the good work.

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A Happy Easter...

Please join me in celebration of Christ's Resurrection on this Easter Sunday. What a beautiful day in the Bronxville, NY area. I hope you all are well and I wish everyone peace today and everyday forward.

I will certainly enjoy this day off with a lovely feast, praise and probably a nice nap in the out-of-doors.

May God continue to bless you all.

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We take offense...

Those in attendance today at the MTC were treated to another CACC win over Chestnut Hill College 9-0 (click here for box score).

The Clipper staff was a little edgy today for a variety of reasons and asked the players to make a bit of a statement. Often times it is difficult for the players to get mentally excited to play matches against inferior opponents (oops, my bad, sorry if I have hurt feelings by printing that). However the team meant business today and made quick work of the Hill.

Concordia started quickly in all three doubles matches and cruised to a 3-0 start allowing just a total of three games in the three pro sets. Games we tough to come by for our opponents today as the singles lineup decided that they wanted to get to Chalana's Brazilian Buffet for some tasty BBQ. All six courts won in straight sets to end the affair in shutout fashion.

Andreas Lindell continued to play the good tennis and is having a nice start to his college tennis career. I look forward to seeing his improvement as his game matures as he should have a bright future here. He is making a habit of being the first player off the court with a win.

It was nice to see so many supporters out at the courts today including former Clippers Henning Ruenz, Vlad Malkin, Kela and Teza Simunyola, and well of course, me.

We will travel to Philadelphia Tuesday to play the University of the Sciences. Match time is scheduled for 3pm.

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Streaking...

Good day and sorry for the delay. A little neck strain has kept me away from the computer. However, I know you all have been eagerly awaiting a post keeping you abreast of the recent happenings.

Philadelphia University visited Bronxville 3/27 and were rudely sent home with an 8-1 defeat (click here for the box score). After sweeping the doubles easily, we let Andrey and Alex sit out the singles and thus challenged the balance of the lineup to step up and win at higher spots. This proved not to be a problem as most everyone won in easy fashion. Not sure my buddy and Philly's head coach Cha Goods appreciated that we sat Alex and Andrey but you gotta earn the right to play Mr. Grubin and Mr. Boldarev by fielding a competitive squad when you show up to play and witness the Clippers...

The day after we traveled to Brookdale Park in NJ to battle Bloomfield College, another CACC powerhouse. Fielding a squad of fully funded soccer players, the Bloomfield racquetmen were defeated 9-0 (click her for box score) in, what I believe to be a record time, 51 minutes from handshake to handshake. It was nice to have the rest of the weekend off I must say...

These big wins propelled Felix Missal to be named CACC Player of the Week and Andreas Lindell CACC Rookie of the Week. Congrats to both players.

In our third match in 5 days Post University came to Bronxville. Post, another CACC foe, was also sent home with a 9-0 loss (click here for results).

I gotta say however, we have been pleasantly greeted with nothing but the best sportsmanship from our new opponents in the CACC and look forward to a wonderful future and a rediculously long winning streak in the conference, as long as I have anything to do with Concordia Tennis.

Tomorrow 4/3 we will take on Chestnut Hill College, another CACC opponent at home with a 1:30pm start. I hope to see you there. As always, stop in and say hello to ol' coach Dano. Former Clipper netman Henning Rrrrrrruenz is in the area and will be in attendance. Perhaps even a steak dinner in the future...

Be well all and Happy Easter!

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Results: Clippers defeat FDU 8-1

Your Clippers defeated NCAA I FDU today in Bronxville 8-1 (click here for official box score).

Although all courts got off to a shaky start with play and/or good decision making, we were able to sweep through the doubles 3-0. The positive momentum carried over into the singles as the Clippers won 5 of the 6 matches. The only blemish on the scorecard was a loss at #2 singles in a tough third set match tiebreaker.

All things considered we played a decent match today but there is certainly room for improvement. FDU came to town with a good team and we had to fight hard to come away with this sort of lopsided victory.

We are back on the courts tomorrow at home versus Caldwell College at 3:30pm. This will mark the first ever CACC conference match. We hope to get off to a good start and begin a long conference match winning streak.

Thanks to all of you who came out to support us and hope to see you tomorrow.

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Match 3/25/10 vs. FDU

Hello Clipper fans,

It's been a bit busy as we get ready to resume matches here in the Northeast Region. We are scheduled for four matches in the next four days. First up is NCAA I FDU (click for FDU web page) and coach Ira Miller tomorrow at 3:30pm, home at the Meyers Tennis Center.

Last year we squeaked by the Knights 4-3 using the NCAA I scoring. Both teams sport markedly different rosters so it is not easy to predict the outcome. With any luck we will have some nice spring weather and will be able to play the match in a manageable time frame.

If you are in the Bronxville area and have some free time, come on out and support us as we resume our journey to the NCAA II National Championship. You should get treated to some good tennis and of course, some excellent coaching. Feel free to say hello as well.

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C-A-T-S...Go UK!!! (Click for UK Hoops site)

Ok folks, get ready. It's time to wear your blue and support your Wildcats in route to a National Championship. With any luck your national player of the year John Wall will lead us to the title.

Tune in tomorrow (Thursday 3/18) at 7:15pm to you local CBS station and watch UK take on East Tennessee State University in what should be an opening round blowout.

Imagine how good we would be if Jody Meeks had stayed in school. This would really have been something to witness...

Perhaps the 2009-2010 team can add to the richest tradition in college hoops. Remember Sam...selected before Michael Jordan in the NBA draft...

As for me, you can find me at Jack Dempseys in NYC. The best place to watch UK basketball. Fill out those brackets and make sure UK is your winner!!!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day...

Hold on to your hats Clipper fans, the season, and the hunt for my last piece of the puzzle...the NCAA National Championship is about the resume next week. As a result, see below for the upcoming match schedule:

Thursday, March 25th vs. Fairleigh Dickinson University 3:00pm

Friday, March 26th vs. Caldwell College* 3:00pm

Saturday, March 27th vs. Philadelphia University* 2:30pm

Sunday, March 28th at Bloomfield College* 11:00am

* - CACC (Conference) Match

The good news is that God has blessed us with some beautiful early spring weather which is much appreciated by tennis players and also those enduring the damaging storm that downed trees, power lines and sent my neighbor's patio furniture to my front lawn. With any luck, the tree that fell onto the third court outdoors will be removed shortly. In addition, I understand that former Clippers and current neighbors Sergiu Barbu and Rohan Malhotra have no power service yet and that my favorite German Shepherd Matrix is wearing a sweatshirt about the house.

In some other news...

A very Happy Birthday to former Clipper Vish Varghese aka Charlie, aka Charles, aka 56. Congrats and be well.

A second Happy Birthday wish to my niece Abby who is a St. Patrick's Day baby.

Lastly, wishing you all a very Happy St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy the spirit of the day and be safe. As for me, I gave up the green beer a long time ago...I will be wearing my green Kentucky Basketball shirt today however...Go CATS!!!

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Rankings...

The March 2, 2010 rankings have been released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for NCAA II (click here for complete rankings). The Clippers have remained in the #9 spot in the nation.

Division II Men - National

1. ARMSTRONG

2. BARRY

3. VALDOSTA
4. LYNN

5. HAWAII PACIFIC

6. OUACHITA BAPTIST

7. WEST FLORIDA

8. COLUMBUS STATE

9. CONCORDIA

10. ROLLINS
Concordia is poised to move up a few spots in the rankings with their spring break results and some recent losses by a few of the top ten ranked teams. The next ranking release date is 3/30/10 and will include team, singles and doubles rankings.

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Thanks Jet Blue...

Courtesy of the good folks at Jet Blue, we have a nice festive five hour delay at the Jacksonville airport. Wow, what a great place to spend the day. Well, at least the airport is equipped with free Wifi service so I have something to do. After playing several games of Euchre like a good Midwestern lad, I decided to update the blog with some nice team pics. Enjoy.

Dane, Felix and Andreas on the facebook of course. At least Andreas is not on Messenger with Kasper in the usual way...

Coach T. working on the to do list. Gotta believe Rogaine is right up there at the top...

Rafa working; perusing some educational material...

Alex catching up on some well deserved rest...

Tamas and Andrey visiting Starbucks...

For some reason Shaolin was nowhere to be found. He may be lost...go figure.

With any luck we will board at the new scheduled time and be to JFK before tomorrow comes.

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A man of his word...

Coach Neil has returned from the "salon" with a new look. Personally, I would have liked to see a little more scalp. I guess he chickened out a little, but not too shabby otherwise.

The afro days are long gone PAL!!!

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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.

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