The Clippers Men's Team headed to Florida for their annual Spring Break trip. The Clippers headed down 2-0 and were scheduled to face off against four top twenty tennis teams in the nation and coincidental reside in the state of Florida.
First up was #3 Embry-Riddle Aeronauctical University in beautiful Daytona Beach. Doubles hit the court first and Clipper number one pair of Andrey Boldarev and Daniele Piludu came away with a double service break match win of 8-4. Giving the Clippers their second point for the doubles session was Tamas Dobrotka and Geza Bazula pushing their match to a deciding tiebreaker. Dobrotka and Bazula came away victorious as they won 7-5 in the tie-breaker to take the match 9-8. Embry-Riddle picked up their first point of the day by grabbing the 8-5 win in the third doubles match over Andreas Lindell and David Tisserand.
The Clippers went into the singles session with a 2-1 advantage, needing just three points to collect their third win of the year. Felix Missal, at the number six singles position, gave the Clippers a two point overall lead as he defeated his opponent with ease. Missal's final score was 6-3; 6-0. Andrey Boldarev, hitting at #1 singles, moved the Clippers one point closer to the match win with his 7-5; 6-1 victory over Embry-Riddle's Chris Freeman. Embry-Riddle avoided defeat in the number two singles match as Clippers number two Daniele Piludu fell in a tough two set match; 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
As the Clippers continued to be just one point away, Embry-Riddle struck back in the number five and number four singles matches to even the score at 4-4. Number five singles Clipper Andreas Lindell was broken once in each set to fall 6-4;6-4. Tamas Dobrotka, at the number four singles was pushed to three sets, eventually falling 4-6; 6-1; 6-7(1-7).
With only one match remaining it was up to Clippers number three singles David Tisserand. After falling in the first set 6-7 Tisserand rallied to force a deciding third and final set with his 6-4 second set win. To no one's surprise, the third set headed to a tie-breaker. After 5 hours and 33 minutes of total match play between the Clippers and Embry-Riddle, Concordia improved their record to 3-0 as Tisserand collected the third set win with a 8-6 tie-breaker for the 7-6 set win.
Up next for the Clippers was #17 Flagler College.
Tamas Dobrotka and Geza Bazula collected their second doubles win in a row as they scored the only doubles point for the Clippers against Flagler. Dobrotka and Bazula were able to grab a service break and pushed for an 8-6 victory. Flagler collected the other two wins in doubles getting the go ahead before the singles matches. Number one doubles team Boldarev and Piludu were broken once but were unable to recover and fell 5-8 while number three Clipper pair Tisserand and Lindell fell 3-8.
Daniel Piludu gave the Clippers a point, earning his first Spring Break singles win with ease as he allowed only two games to slip through his fingers. Piludu won 6-2; 6-0. Dobrotka, at the number four singles earned another point for the Clippers with a 6-1; 6-4 victory. Andreas Lindell tacked on a point for the Clippers as he grabbed late set service breaks to gain a 7-5; 7-5 win. Geza Bazula, at the number six singles spot, had little trouble for his point to give the Clippers the win as he collected a 6-0; 6-1 win.
Flagler was able to grab points at the number one singles and number three singles positions even though the Clippers collected five before they could. Andrey Boldarev dropped in three sets as he put up a fight on court; 4-6; 6-3; 5-7. David Tisserand fell in straight sets the day after his epic match; 2-6, 3-6. With the Clippers collecting five points first they improved their record to 4-0 heading into their next match with #6 Rollins College.
Dobrotka and Bazula continued their impressive play at the number two doubles position. With their third win in as many days, the Clipper pair had little trouble on court as they picked up a key doubles point with the 8-3 victory. Boldarev and Piludu returned to the winning side of the net as they picked up doubles point number two with their 8-6 win. Rollins was able to close the gap to 2-1 as they picked up a tough 8-6 win in third doubles over Lindell and Tisserand.
Andreas Lindell returned to his winning ways on the singles side as he cruised to a 6-1; 6-1 straight set victory at the number six spot. Adding to the Clippers lead this Thursday afternoon with his straight set win was Tamas Dobrotka. Dobrotka's 6-3; 7-5 win put the Clippers just one point away from the team match and gave Dobrotka his second straight singles win.
Rollins was able to close the gap once again to 4-3 with their singles wins at the number three and number five singles. David Tisserand fell for the second day, this time in a hard fought three set match; 1-6; 6-2; 1-6. Felix Missal dropped a tough straight set match 4-6; 1-6.
Andrey Boldarev secured the overall team victory for the Clippers as his tough three energetic three set win. After Boldarev dropped the first set 3-6, he rallied to hold court in the second set 6-0 and push the match to its ultimate set. Boldarev grabbed a last game service break to pull out the 6-4 third set win. Adding the final Clippers tally, Daniele Piludu, at number two singles, won his straight set match by the scores of 6-3; 6-1.
With the win over Flagler, the Clippers moved to 5-0 and 3-0 on their Florida swing with their biggest match yet to come.
The Clippers last match of the Spring Break trip was against the defending NCAA II Men's Tennis Champions and the thorn in the Clippers side, #1 Barry University.