Clippers Defeat Caldwell...

Not much to report today other than the title of this post. We defeated Caldwell 9-0 without surrendering a game in the entire mach. I would love to tell you that we played great today and needed to but the honest truth is that Caldwell presented little opposition.

Of course, the good news is that the ITA National Team Rankings were released and we are #3 just behind Valdosta and Armstrong, two very impressive traditions of college tennis.

Up next will be the Bloomfield soccer team on our home courts this on Saturday at the Meyers Tennis Center.

Nuff said...

Clippers Beat USP...

We notched another win in the CACC by beating USP 9-0. It was another cold day for tennis but we were able to travel to Philadelphia once again and come back to Bronxville with a nice win in the conference. We are now a perfect 3-0 in the CACC.

Andrey and Daniele were tested a bit by a scrappy USP pair but were able to hold on for the win 8-5. Easy wins were on tap and #2 and #3 to start off with the 3-0 lead before the singles matches.

Andrey again was tested but was able to come out on top in the end
6-4, 6-3. All other matches were essentially one-sided for us.

In other news, Clipper Geza Bazula was named CACC Player of the Week and Ricardo Frey was named CACC Rookie of the Week. This is the third consecutive week where we were awarded both honors.

We will be back in action tomorrow 3/30 versus CACC opponent Caldwell College at the Meyers Tennis Center on the home campus of Concordia College. First serve will be at 3:30pm.

See you there.

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Back To Philadelphia...

We will drive down the turnpike again today to play USP in another CACC match. We hope to stay undefeated in conference play and continue our winning ways. It certainly is not warm again today so we will need the winter gear to get through the afternoon. Not sure what the day will bring but I am quite sure we will be driving back to NY during rush hour and will get home later than I would like.

Remember to follow me on twitter for live updates during the match.

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FINAL 4!!!

All of you Clipper tennis fans out there are aware of our back-to-back NCAA II semifinal appearances the last two seasons which have certainly been very enjoyable. I appreciate every moment of the success and would love to be back there again this year.

However, I must say, I am pretty darn pleased with my Kentucky Wildcats getting to the NCAA I Basketball Final 4 by beating UNC today in the East Regional Final in NJ.


Up next will be the UCONN Huskies who beat us early on in the season pretty badly I must say. In fact, it was our worst loss of the season. I have not been very confident going into the last three games and nothing changes now. UCONN has been on a tremendous roll with 9 tournament wins in a row and has players that are going to pose problems for us. They could be close to one of the best runs in the history of college basketball. I hope that doesn't happen.

Go Cats!!!

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9-0 over PU Rams...

In a CACC match up of it's top 2 teams, we defeated Philadelphia University 9-0. It was a mighty cold day more suitable for skiing rather than tennis but we were able to get the job done and look pretty good doing it too.

The 2.5 hour ride each way was a bit more enjoyable with professor Boldarev administering a pop quiz on money and banking. The coaching staff passed with flying colors!

I am pretty sure that the players brought a solid effort today so as to spend as little time in the cold as possible and also to get home for a Saturday night's worth of entertainment.

We started with a quick sweep of the doubles as we played our starting lineup. The Rams usually play pretty good doubles so we expected to be tested. We needed the good play today to win 8-2, 8-4 and 8-0.

The singles went on and finished without us dropping a set. Geza contributed today with another 6-0, 6-0 victory. In addition, we, once again, had solid fan support from the Freys and Lindells. It is a pleasure to have them support us and it is so nice that they are able to witness their sons play the game that they love.

I didn't get much sleep and am pretty tired now. I really enjoyed the UK game last night and was too excited to sleep. I will gladly give up some more sleep tomorrow night if we can get into the Final 4 over UNC.


Anyway, we will travel back to Philadelphia on Monday to play USP in another CACC match. I can say for sure that it is nice that we only play a 6 match CACC schedule this season rather than the 12 last season...too much travel to and from Philadelphia.


The win puts our record at 10-2 (2-0 CACC). We hope to continue the winning ways going forward.

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Sailing To Philadelphia...

Up and out early this morning heading to Philadelphia to play the Rams of PU. Seems a bit cold for tennis but this is what we do. Essentially, we will spend more time in the van in transit than actually playing the match but this is the most important match of the year, as it is the one we are playing today.

Gotta love the CACC.

Follow me on twitter for periodic in-match updates.

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Uk beats OSU!!!

In one of the most exciting college basketball games I have seen in recent years, the Cats defeated #1 Ohio State 62-60 to advance to the Elite 8 in the NCAA tournament.

I witnessed Brandon Knight once again hit the game winner with a silky smooth jumper from 15 feet out. I am not sure we can come out and do it again against UNC on Sunday but it seems that anything can happen this year. I hope I have time to make it down to NYC and Jack Dempsey's establishment for the game.

GO CATS!!!

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Let's Go Cats!!!

Upset Ohio State!!!

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Clippers Defeat Dowling 9-0...

Sorry for the delay in posting but in more good news, we spoiled the return of Viktor Kim to Concordia, defeating the Lions 9-0. Unfortunately, Viktor was injured and not able to compete, thus making our job quite a bit easier.

We swept the three doubles matches in short order and carried the success over into the singles taking all six matches there as well. Most of the matches featured at least one 6-0 set and at some positions, both. Dane and Ricardo both notched easy victories for the second consecutive day.

Due to cold, winter-like weather, we moved the entire match indoors. It is always extremely difficult for opposing teams to come to our indoor facility and compete. The surface is a bit faster and seems to take some adjusting by the players. We, on the other hand, have no problem resorting to fast-court tennis and using the conditions to our advantage. I certainly would not mind if the whole bloody season, including the Nationals, were played here on our indoor courts.

Next up for us will be two jaunts to Philadelphia, PA to play the "U" on Saturday @ 12noon and USP on Monday @ 3:30pm. This travel is a bit tedious but was necessary to open up the schedule to allow trips to both SC and Las Vegas. These are both CACC matches and need to be played each year. Perhaps the trips could be enhanced by timely visits to Pat's King of Steaks on the way home.

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Clippers Blank Chestnut Hill College...

Your Clippers started off the CACC season with a convincing 9-0 victory over CHC today at the Meyers Tennis Center.

Starting quickly, we swept the doubles on a nice but chilly Bronxville afternoon. All three matches were fairly one-sided and we looked to take that momentum into the singles. Today was a nice opportunity to get some playing time for Dane and Ricardo who have been hungry to get on the match court. Also, it was nice to have several player families in attendance. The Lindells, Ostillys and Freys were all present to cheer on their lads and witness their wins. We were able to win all six singles matches and come away with a 9-0 win. This was a nice start to the CACC schedule of matches as we look to repeat as conference champions.

I am really excited to see what Ricardo can do as he will get the chance to play several matches in a row and develop some match experience at the college level. I was also happy to see Dane get a decisive victory today as the pressure was really on him from the coaching staff.

I always enjoy meeting player relatives and friends and am pleased to add them to our tennis family. Our program always has room for them.

Next up for us will be Dowling College tomorrow. Once again we will be home at the Meyers Tennis Center with a start time scheduled for 3:30pm. Spring has come in terms of the calendar, but the weather forecast seems to be lagging behind in winter as we are expected to receive a little snow. As a result, we will probably play the match indoors and perhaps move up the start time to an earlier hour. Check back with me tomorrow and I will keep you up to date with any changes.

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POY / ROY...

Good News!

The CACC has announced their Players of the Week and Rookies of the Week for the first two weeks of the spring season and your Clippers have swept the awards.

Week of March 14:

Player of the Week: Tamas Dobrotka
Rookie of the Week: Daniele Piludu

Week of March 21:

Player of the Week: Daniele Piludu
Rookie of the Week: David Tisserand

Match tomorrow vs. CACC opponent Chestnut Hill College. This is our home match at the Meyers Tennis Center with first serve at 3:30pm. Stop by and witness the event.

Also, we welcome the Frey family to Concordia. We are happy to have both Ricardo and Juliana here at the college as student athletes and hope that you enjoy your visit to NY.

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Leaving Las Vegas...

Greetings fellow Clipper fans. Well, we have returned from fabulous Las Vegas with mixed results. However, we did get what we came for...competitive matches.

After what I would call a disappointing week of practice following a terrific Florida trip, we faced off versus the NAIA's #1 Fresno Pacific. I wasn't expecting to be at our best for a few reasons but we were able to take two doubles from a solid FPU team. However, the singles players from Fresno were very tough and beat us in spots 3-6 giving us our first loss of the season 5-4. We did win at the top two spots which included Andrey defeating the NAIA's #1 ranked player and defending superbowl champion from the fall. We did have a chance for the upset as the final match on court was at #5 with Felix. He was able to race to a 4-2 lead in the final set but he was not able to close to door on FPU's rock solid opponent. We lost a close one there 6-4 in the third.

The next day was perhaps our most important match of the trip versus Abilene Christian University. ACU was ranked just behind us in the NCAA II. Sadly, after the tough match the day before and perhaps a little over-confidence, we came out flat. ACU has always played good doubles and I was not surprised to see that continue on this day. They played with energy and desire and essentially gave us a beating. We lost quickly at #1 and #2. Luckily, we sneaked out #3 and that kept us in the match. Coach Neil and I strongly asked for more energy and focus in the singles sensing that we were in trouble in this match. However, our request was not honored right away. ACU continued their strong play and raced out to a 4-1 lead with fast wins at #5 and #6, two spots we have been wining mostly. In addition, we had lost first sets at #3 and #1. The only bright spots were at #2 and #4 where Tamas and Dani won first sets. Dani went on the win in straight sets but Tamas lost a bit of focus and had to go three to win the match. David was able to turn his match and outlast his opponent wining 6-4 in the third to tie the match score at 4-4. Andrey was last on and had turned his match as well. He won the second set and had jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the final set. We were starting to feel like we were going to steal this match on a day where we were outplayed and deserved to lose. Andrey lost focus and confidence and did not win another game and lost 6-4 and thus we lost the match 5-4. We didn't have it that day and ACU gave us a wake up call for sure.

Our final match in Vegas was a chance to bounce back versus HPU. The effort was much better and the opponent was not quite as strong as out first two of the trip. We did come out and play hard and smart which was nice to see. As a result, we swept the doubles 3-0. We kept up the strong play in the singles and took 4 out of the 6 matches losing only at #1 and #5. Dani continued his very strong play on the trip besting a tough player. David and Andreas had good efforts wining 6-0, 6-0 at positions 3 and 6. We took the match 7-2 and ended on a high note.

Next up will be CACC foe Chestnut Hill College this Tuesday in Bronxville @ 3:30pm. Stop in and support the Clippers.

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NY

Greetings from NY. Just got back home and apologize for the lack of posts. It seems that our hotel had just limited internet. I will get back to you tomorrow with a post. Sadly, I scheduled a full day of patients at the hospital tomorrow and getting to bed just now at 2:30am after losing 3 hours on the time change is going to slow me down a little. However, more to follow soon.

Glad to be home.

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Fabulous Las Vegas...

As most of you know by now, the team is off to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada tomorrow 3/13. Now some of you may feel that "Sin City" is a strange place for a tennis trip. However, rain is not a common occurrence is this desert oasis and the temperatures are a welcomed 75 degrees (F). As a result, quite a nice venue for tennis and one that figures to allow all matches to be played.

We will be staying at the Luxor in the pyramid, seen above, which should be pleasant for all. I look forward to the trip and hope the team can continue to focus on tennis. Clearly, there are many distractions in Las Vegas and we will need to handle them well to win our matches. The schedule will be as follows:

Monday 3/14 vs. Fresno Pacific (#1 NAIA) @ 12:30pm PST
Tuesday 3/15 vs. Abilene Christian (#10 NCAA II) @ 12:30pm PST
Wednesday 3/16 vs. Hawai'i Pacific (#25 NCAA II) @ 8:30am PST

All matches will be played at the Darling Tennis Center. This should prove to be another huge test for your Clippers versus more of the elite tennis teams in the country.

Speaking of huge tests, Coach Neil has one with respect to the 5+ hour flight. As you all know, he does not like to fly much and has never flown a flight of this length. At least we have him in an aisle seat for comfort. I hope Delta has the proper "medication".

We will return 3/17, St. Patrick's Day. I look forward to the NCAA Basketball tournament "March Madness" and also the CACC portion of our schedule.

17 Black!

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