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Issue date: 3/9/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Austin Coffey ZANDER WOODFORD-SMITH FOREHANDS a ball during Thursday's match with Concordia. Woodford-Smith contributed a victory in his single's match, but the Eagles fell 4-5.

The Concordia (N.Y.) Clippers men's tennis team earned its first win against Embry-Riddle in five tries, edging the Eagles 5-4 on Thursday at the Crotty Tennis Complex. The Clippers, ranked ninth in NCAA Division II, improved their overall record to 2-0, while the fourth-ranked Eagles moved 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 Dubrotka and Andrew 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. Dubrotka 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 also dropped his first set 6-4, but forced a third set with a 6-3 win in the second. 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.

Hoekzema scored the fourth and final point for ERAU, downing Grubin 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 at the top spot.

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