On to the final...

OK Clipper fans, get ready for the CACC final. We defeated USP for the second time in three days today 6-0 in one of the two CACC semi-final matches (click here for boxscore).

We will travel back to Philadelphia, PA for the CACC final which will be played on the campus of Chestnut Hill College. Philadelphia University, the #2 seed in the tournament, will be our opponent, as they easily defeated Chestnut Hill College 5-0 in today's other semi-final. In case you were wondering, we defeated PU twice already this season by the scores of 8-1 and 9-0.

With a CACC tournament championship, we would receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in May. Of course, being the #1 team in the region, we are a sure bet (D5*L) to receive an at large bid even with an unlikely loss Thursday. In any case, we hope to return to Bronxville with a banner, the watches, a plaque, a trophy and a full stomach courtesy of Pat's King of Steaks.

Today's match was also the last home match for senior Alex Grubin. As usual, he did not disappoint. Alex won both singles and doubles allowing only two games on the day. Join me in congratulating Alex on a great career as a Clipper and lets hope there is more good tennis yet to come culminating in an NCAA II National Championship in May.

Thanks Alex for all of your contributions. Best of luck in the future.

Nuff said...

There is always hope with Pope...

One of the great things about being apart of the Concordia Tennis family is that I meet so many terrific talented people along the way. One such person is Christopher Pope. Chris has served the college as professor of photography, and also graciously provides the athletic department with top-notch professional photographs of athletes in competition.

For your enjoyment, you can view the Pope Photography web page by clicking on the logo above or here. In order to view hundreds of Concordia Tennis pics simply click on the "Order Photos" toggle and type in "Tennis", select "Concordia College Men's Tennis 2010", type in your e-mail and get ready to view the proofs.

If you see any that you like and would like to have a copy for yourself, by all means feel-free to contact Chris and order them. If you have any questions, let me know and I will help you obtain what you need.

Thanks so much Chris for all that you do for us!

Nuff said...

CACC Tournament Preview...

Tomorrow begins the CACC Men's Tennis post season tournament. Click here for the official tournament preview.

In addition, Raphael Namias was named CACC Player of the Week (Click here for press release).

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20 wins...

Good news folks, I get to announce a twenty win season. We were able to win two more matches today, going 3-0 for the weekend, to eclipse the 20 win mark. In our morning match we defeated the University of the Sciences (PA) 9-0 (click here for boxscore).

The Clippers welcomed back Andreas today for the doubles and thus we were able to return to our normal pairings. Racking up points early and often, we swept all three positions allowing only two games to USP. Resting Alex and Andreas for the morning singles, we were still able to gather all six matches completing the shutout. As usual, USP fought to the finish and demonstrated the good sportsmanship. It is now likely that we will face them for the third time this season on Tuesday back on our courts in the semi-final of the CACC.

After a short break and a some team pizza, we faced off against NCAA I Bryant University. We have been looking forward to playing BU as we knew that they would bring a competitive team to Bronxville for the match. Once again we started fast and swept the doubles. The singles matches proved to be competitive in a few spots but we were still able to finish the day on the plus side of an
8-1 score (click here for boxscore).

Today's action completes the regular season slate. All in all a pretty good campaign for the Clippers. We will now turn our attention to the CACC post season tournament which begins on Tuesday 4/20. We will be the #1 seed and host our semi-final match. With a win, we will advance to the final which will be held on the campus of Chestnut Hill College Thursday 4/22.

More than ever, it is now time for the coaching staff to best prepare the team for post season success. We have set goals and hope to achieve them. However, this will not occur without effort, sacrifice and togetherness...a little luck will help as well.

Please come join us on Tuesday and support the team. This match is a special one as it will be Alex's last home match as a Clipper. As all of you who read this blog know, Alex has meant so much to this program and this college. It will be nice to have a chance to celebrate his achievements. Stop by and see Alex play one last time and wish him good luck in his future. If you have some time, say hello to Coach Dano too.

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Long day, good win...

Well, six hours in the van did not prevent the Clippers from defeating #8 NCAA III Amherst College 7-2 (click here for boxscore) on the campus of Hampshire College. Thankfully, the match was moved to the indoor facility, which usually favors our boys, so the cold and rainy conditions did not prevent the match from being played.

Amherst, coached by former ATP player Chris Garner, gave us exactly what we needed, a good fight. As we prepare for the NCAA tournament in a few weeks, we certainly appreciated good competition and some ability to gain match toughness. Most notably, Alex Grubin is starting to regain the good form in spite of some nagging tendinitis about the knee joint. We hope Alex will continue to find his good tennis and regain his rightful spot atop the D II rankings.

Unfortunately, we were without Andreas today as he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. As a result, Shaolin was called upon to step in and fill the #6 position as well as to team up with Tamas at 3rd doubles. Having never played together, they struggled and lost a tough 8-6 pro-set. However, Shao showed his continued improvement and won his match handily in the singles 6-4, 6-3.

The only tough spot of the day was #3 singles as Felix Missal dropped his match in a match tie-breaker, played in lieu of a third set, 11-9. Felix did experience the good side of the tie breaker earlier in the doubles as he and Raphael squeaked by at 2nd 9-8.

No rest again for the team as we will play two matches Sunday, which is now today, and I am running late for as a result of scripting this blog at this very moment. First up at 10:30am is our last CACC match vs. the University of the Sciences in PA followed by NCAA I Bryant University in the afternoon. Perhaps I will have some time later in the day to finish my laundry.

Stop by and spend some of this gorgeous day at the tennis center supporting the fellas. Feel free to visit with Coach Dano as well.

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Signed...

That's right folks, the next superstar has signed and will be ready to pick up where J-Wall left off. Brandon Knight committed to Kentucky today and helps to ease the sting of a disappointing loss to West Virginia just a few short weeks ago.

Knight has been ranked as the #1 overall recruit for 2010 and is the third player signed by Coach Cal and company so far for the fall. Of course, with the possible departure of five players and projected lottery picks in the upcoming NBA draft, the wildcats needed to reload. Knight joins fellow recruits Enes Kanter and Stacey Poole with more expected in the near future. I will not be surprised if the Cats end up with the #1 class when all is said and done.

I am already looking forward to next season. Go Cats!!!

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We had the Reunz (Henning), he had the runs...

In a recent interview, Yankee relief pitcher Chan Ho Park explains why he had a rough outing in his first appearance, much to the amusement of teammates Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera.

I guess there is more to the game than what is between the lines and between the ears. It's also between the cheeks...



Yikes! Nuff said...

We are streaking...

In the words of Frank "The Tank" from Old School, "come on...we're streaking." Yes indeed, after a disappointing loss to St. John's University last week we are back to our winning ways.

Our fourth win in a row was registered Monday 4/12 versus Queens College, ranked #2 in the NCAA II East Region. Sadly, we really didn't display our best effort and best tennis, yet we were still able to come up victorious 8-1 (click here for boxscore). Queens did come ready to play and should be commended for their energy and effort, but I was quite upset with our level of interest in the match. We will certainly need to apply ourselves, both coaches and players, if we are to do anything special in the weeks to come.
Today we extended the winning streak to five with a lop-sided victory over Post 9-0 (click here for boxscore). This extends our CACC record to a perfect 11-0. I am sure that this will please Kasper and that he will likely post a hearty congratulations to us on Facebook.
In other news, Alex Grubin was named CACC Player of the Week and Andreas Lindell was named CACC Rookie of the Week for the third time. Congratulations to both players.
We will be back on the courts this weekend as we will travel to Amherst to play last year's NCAA III runner-up on Saturday. With little rest, we have a double-header scheduled for the next day, Sunday, featuring our last CACC match versus the University of the Sciences in the morning, followed by NCAA I Bryant University in the afternoon.
With any luck, the beautiful spring weather will continue and plenty of you will stop by the MTC to watch some of the good tennis. As always, pop by and visit Coach Dano.
Nuff said...

10 - 0 CACC...

The weekend ended on a good note with the Clippers registering another 9-0 win over Bloomfield College (click here for boxscore). With the beautiful weather present we played the entire match in the out-of-doors and enjoyed the afternoon.

Today's win completed the season sweep over the Bloomfield racquetmen and brought our CACC record to a clean 10-0. With just two conference matches remaining on the schedule, the Clippers have clinched the regular season title and will have the #1 seed, and thus, the home courts in the CACC tournament semifinal 4/20.

In another nice treat, we had a little post match team pizza and some soccer/volleyball on the tennis court. As the welt on Shoalin's rear end will clearly indicate, it is not fun to lose to Andrey.

We are back on the home courts tomorrow versus Queens College with a early start time of 2:30pm. The Knights boast a 12-1 overall record and are currently ranked #2 in the East Region by the NCAA and the ITA. We are looking forward to the challenge Coach Schwartz will bring to Bronxville.

Hope to see you there. Pass by and say hello to Coach Dano and enjoy the good tennis.

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Daily Double...

We traveled to Philadelphia for two matches today, both of which we won handily. Our long day started at 7:00am with breakfast finely catered by John from the local deli. Of course, he was just slightly late with the food so we got on the road a bit behind schedule. We arrived at Philadelphia University for our morning match in time to get in a brief warm-up, and naturally, Coach Neil's inspirational speech. Still stinging from Thursday's tough loss, we got off to a quick start and never looked back, scoring a 9-0 win over the Rams (click here for boxscore).

Importantly, the doubles was a bit improved and we got back to making the good choices. We will need to continue that practice if we expect to succeed at the national level.

After a short lunch break, we were off to nearby Chestnut Hill College. Thanks to the GPS, and some decent written directions, we were able to find the courts located on this beautiful campus loaded with lovely spring foliage.

Even though we had easily defeated CHC just a week ago in Bronxville, the netmen from the Hill, really came to play and gave a very strong and respectable effort today. An effort that this coach certainly appreciated, took notice of and wishes all other CACC teams mirrored. However, our talent eventually overwhelmed their enthusiasm and we completed the match with an 8-1 win (click here for boxscore). Unfortunately, Dane was the lone unlucky loser on the day at #6 singles as he ran into a tough opponent this afternoon. This time out, Dane had a little trouble controlling the topspin, the topspin...

We were also treated to a nice BBQ that some CHC parents hosted during and after the match. Many thanks to those folks, who were extremely kind and generous to our group. They certainly added to our experience and made the day more enjoyable. Thanks again!


We return to the home courts tomorrow to face CACC opponent Bloomfield College. First serve is scheduled for 11:00am. We continue to be undefeated in the CACC with a 9-0 record in our inaugural season and hope to continue the streak tomorrow. Hope to see you all there and don't forget to stop by and say hello to Coach Dano.

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Tough loss...

Well folks, we were finally defeated by our NCAA I opponent St. John's University 4-3 (click here for boxscore).

I certainly had my concerns about this match as St. John's was a much tougher team than what we had been playing since our spring break time in Florida in early March. As a result, it was difficult for our guys to play to their best level. This is understandable.

Also, the loss served as a good lesson to us all that we will have to practice and prepare much better in the future if we expect to compete for the NCAA II title in May. Frankly, there were absolutely some great things displayed on the court but unfortunately, for whatever reason, we had several instances of poor choice making as well. These choices at inopportune moments cost us the match.

The good news is that we still have time to get back to work and return to the good tennis so as to be hungry and ready for the championship events to come.

We will travel back to Philadelphia, PA tomorrow to play two Saturday matches versus Philadelphia University @ 11:00am and Chestnut Hill College @ 3pm. Who knows, if we play well, maybe a trip back to Pat's King of Steaks...

Nuff said...

Canada's Greatest Athlete...

A clean sweep...

Well for the first time in my coaching career we won an entire match without allowing a single game to the opponents. In fact, we did it twice! Yes that's right, we beat Caldwell College twice today 9-0 without allowing a single game in either match (Match #1 Boxscore)(Match #2 Boxscore).

We will travel to St. John's University tomorrow to see my friend and Red Storm coach Eric Rebhuhn and play a completely different level of competition. It will certainly be a challenge for the players to raise their level tomorrow and defeat our NCAA I opponent.

We have defeated St. John's the last two years 5-4 in 2008 and 6-3 in 2009. If we are able to continue the good tennis and win, we will extend our spring match winning streak to 11.

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Clippers defeat USP...

To quote an old favorite, Bob Murphy, former play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets, it's another happy recap as we win another CACC match 9-0 over USP (click here for box score).

However, the trip was enhanced by a detour to downtown Philadelphia to Pat's King of Steaks for an authentic eating experience...just slightly better than John's version at Eastchester's own Bon Appetite Delicatessen.


We take to the home courts today for a CACC double-header versus Caldwell College with match times at 3pm and 5pm. Hope to see you there!

Nuff said...