SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Concordia (N.Y.) visited the fifth-ranked Armstrong Atlantic Pirates on Friday afternoon for a top-10 match against two of the strongest programs in NCAA Division II. The Clippers would come away with a 7-2 victory against a shorthanded Armstrong team as Concordia earned its first win in program history against the Pirates.
Armstrong only dressed four players as the Clippers would lead 3-0 by walkover in the No. 3 doubles, No. 5 singles, and No. 6 singles matches. In the remaining two singles matches the action would be highly competitive. The No. 1 duo of junior Benas Majauskas and senior Daniele Piludu would battle their way to a 9-7 win against Luca Cerin and Jaan Kononov as did the No. 2 duo of junior Juuso Ojanen and freshman Pulat Babadjanov against Ignacio Hernandez and Damian Okrutny.
In singles play, Concordia would begin with a 4-6, 6-0, 10-1 win in the No. 4 match as junior Tomasz Olfans defeated Okrutny. Ojanen, in his No. 1 match, would earn the final victory for the Clippers as he secured a hard-fought 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-5 win against Kononov.
The Pirates would claim two of the singles matches as Hernandez defeated Piludu, the sixth-ranked singles player in the nation, 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 10-4 in the No. 2 match and Cerin won in the No. 3 match versus sophomore Ofir Ginat 6-3, 6-3.
With the win head coach Neil Tarangioli now has 498 career victories as a head coach.
