Greetings...

Hello and many apologies for the long lapse in posting. It was a whirlwind end to the season and to be honest, a slightly disappointing finish.

I know that many of you were following us live on ncaa.com and via twitter and for sure know by now, that we lost to Barry in the semifinals once again this year. This was our third loss in as many years to Barry at this point in the draw. However, this loss was a little different as we were ranked higher than Barry and had beaten them earlier in the season.

Oh well, what's done is done. No use crying over spilled milk. I had really hoped to bring home a National Championship for the Clipper-Nation and it looked to be even more possible this year. You have to give Barry credit. They played good tennis when it counted and stepped up in the moment. We did not. I will take the blame for that. I should have had the guys ready.

In any case, now we have a third semifinalist trophy in the case here in Bronxville and this is something that many other school would love to have. I guess this is not too shabby for the smallest NCAA participating school in the country.

We must say goodbye to Tamas and wish him well. Tamas has finished his fourth year of eligibility in tennis yet will be back at Concordia for his final semester academically. Rumor has it that he will be using his tremendous athletic ability for the cross country team in the fall. Best of luck. Tamas has been someone that could always be counted on and started to play the role of leader late in the season. It will be difficult for the team to replace him.

Now on to the summer break. One that is much needed by me. I look forward to some nicer weather, some time to think and also to prepare for the future. I promise you all that there will be some good players coming to help the cause in the fall. Most importantly, the returning players need to get better. We need to improve our collective game if we are to continue the winning ways. If we want to achieve our ultimate goal, we need to do more. It is not enough to simply set goals, we have to do what it takes to get the job done. Talk is cheap.

For now, nuff said...

Tuesday AM...

Starting the day. A bit of a late night watching the NBA in triple overtime. It's going to be another hot one out there as we hit the practice court at 10:30am. Looking forward to the breakfast at the hotel.

I hope Coach T. wakes up feeling better as his voice is gone and a bit under the weather. I tried to keep the room temperature above 60 degrees for him last night.

At least we had a quiet room as we had to move due to a very noisy dog next door.

Catch you all later. Off to the omelet station.

Nuff said...

The Trip Begins...

Today is the day. The final ride begins...

Up and out early this morning as we meet at the college at 8:45am to depart for the airport. We are leaving from HPN - White Plains. This is usually quite convenient as it is closest to Bronxville with no traffic and no bridge to cross. However, we will be taking a school bus as both men's and women's teams will be traveling together. School buses are not allowed on the highway that takes us to HPN so it is the back road route for us.

11:20 departure to Orlando scheduled. I hope to have better luck at this regional airport than I did at Florence, SC.

We should arrive in Orlando at about 2pm and get settled. Shortly after, we will hit the practice courts. The forecast is for very hot weather (95 degrees plus) so it will take some adjusting. We have no had the most balmy spring here in NY for sure.

Check back throughout the day for some updates and wish us luck.

Shower time.

Nuff said...

I Don't Know...

I just don't know if the players realize how hard it is to just flip the switch when you need to. We need some good preparation and we need it, well, yesterday! Looking forward to some much needed solid practice time. These matches will not win themselves.

Nuff said...

Finals week.

Hard to stay focused on the tasks at hand both tennis and academics.

Dani is back on the court!

Happy Birthday Andreas.

Will scrimmage Queens (NY) on Friday at home.

We stay #3 in the national rankings.

More later.

Nuff said...

Off to the Sweet 16...

Your Clippers defeated Philadelphia University for the third time this season, 5-0, to advance back to the "Sweet 16" of NCAA II college tennis. After a first round bye we traveled to out of way Lehigh University to face off against the Rams. PU defeated Merrimack in the first round 5-1.

We got off to a quick start and swept the doubles. Needing only two points to advance, the usual suspects, Tamas and Andreas, raced to singles victories which completed the shutout.

Philadelphia certainly had a great year once again and I look forward to their continued improvement next season. We always have to be on our toes when we play them for sure.

Next up will be Hawai'i Pacific and our friend coach Pampulov. We played earlier this season in Las Vegas and we were able to come out on top 7-2. Of course, both teams and circumstance's were quite different back in March and we expect a very tough opponent to show up in Orlando.

It is finals week at the college so the players will have to manage their time well to succeed in the classroom and squeeze in a quality week of practice on the court.

Wish us luck.

Nuff said...

NCAA II Men's Tennis Selection Show...

Click here for the video...

Clippers Defeat Red Storm...

Today turned out to be a beautiful day in terms of the weather in spite of a rainy forecast. It also turned into a great day for tennis and a win over St. John's University 5-4 (click here for box score).

Playing once again without Dani and his lingering injury and Felix (flu) we still jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the doubles. A bit disappointed in the effort and intensity at #1 (Geza and Tamas) but #2 and #3 picked up the slack and pushed us to the lead. I was certainly pleased with Ricardo and Andrey at #2 playing together for the first time and beating a tough SJU team. Andreas and David continued their roll and won easily at #3.

The singles featured some pretty high quality and exciting tennis from both teams and we were able to win at 3 positions to clinch the match. Tamas was particularly solid today playing in his last home match as a Clipper. It has been a great career for Tamas and there are still a few more wins for him in the near future. It is too bad that Felix was not well enough to play in this one but I am sure he will be ready to contribute in the NCAA tournament and end his college tennis on a high note.

We now await the NCAA tournament bracket announcement tomorrow. We will be the #1 seed in the East region and have a bye in the first round. At this time, we are not sure where we will play and who our opponent will be but we will be ready regardless. Check back tomorrow and I will be sure to let you know the particulars.

Be well and nuff said...

Happy Easter...

Wishing all of my readers and Clipper fans a very Happy and Blessed Easter. Enjoy the celebration. He is Risen!

Nuff said...

CACC Champs...

Your Clippers have done it again! Back-to-back CACC Championships and back to back 5-0 wins vs. Philadelphia University in the finals (click here for the box score). Even more impressive is the 64-0 record in CACC individual match play this season. You just can't do better than that. Frankly, I hope we never do it again as I hope that the CACC gets even stronger in the near future. I know that there are some hungry coaches out there looking to challenge us and mirror our success. Of course, it's my job to see that we always stay just a little bit ahead.

In addition, the conference season ending awards were announced after the final match in a brief ceremony. Coach Neil was once again voted Coach of the Year, Andrey was voted Player of the Year, and Dani was voted Rookie of the Year. In addition, Tamas was named second team all CACC and Geza, Andrey, Dani and David were all named first team all CACC. I really believe that any and all of our players could have been named to the all conference squad so please join me and congratulating all of them on a great season.

Next up for us will be St. John's University and Concordia Tennis alum, Coach Eric Rebhuhn, on Monday, 4/25 at home at the Meyers Tennis Center on our campus. I am not sure that Dani will be back in uniform as his injury is still lingering. However, this match will provide some really solid competition for the team and I hope that they play well. We need to stay sharp for the upcoming NCAA tournament.

Hope to see you all soon and have a Happy and Blessed Easter.

Nuff said...

Clippers Defeat Chestnut Hill (CACC Semis)

We are off to Philadelphia once again for the CACC Championship to be held at Chestnut Hill College 4/21 @ 3pm. We will play Philadelphia University.

In order to advance we defeated Chestnut Hill 5-0 bringing our CACC record to 7-0 and 59-0 in CACC individual matches.

Click here for more.

Nuff said...

Beat Queens...

We were able to beat Queens College 5-4. I am always happy with a win but this time, not at all happy with some of the play. Sadly, we had three players who presented their matches with gift wrap to their opponents for some reason.

We got up quickly be sweeping the doubles and Andreas and Tamas sealed the win with rather quick work on the singles courts. However, those five points would be all that we amassed on the afternoon.

Dani sat out again with injury and we really need him back healthy to have any chance in May.

Next up is the CACC semifinal today vs. Chestnut Hill College @ 3pm. Stop on by the college today and witness the event.

Nuff said...

It's #1 vs. #2...

It's time to lay it on the line today Clipper fans. We are off to Queens College (NY) today to play the Knights. This is essentially the match of the year in the NCAA II Eastern Region. Well, honestly, it's the only match of the year...

I expect that coach Schwartz will have the boys motivated for the upset and we expect nothing less than a solid effort from QC. This is another test for our team and I really hope that we come out firing on all cylinders. We need to get into the habit of playing well right from the start of matches instead of easing our way into contests and finding ourselves down after the doubles.

Check in on twitter for live match updates.

Nuff said...

ASA Not Congruent To Clippers...

We moved to a record of 18-2 with a 9-0 win over ASA. I am sure that ASA is right at the tip of your tongue when it comes to the powerhouses of tennis in the East. However, all kidding aside, they are probably one of the better teams in the area.

Also, if anyone can tell me in the comment section without searching the internet what ASA stands for, I will be very impressed and will give you a much deserved shout out on this blog.

Have a nice spring day.

Nuff said...