FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team lost a narrow 4-3 decision to the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Wednesday night. With the loss, the Eagles fall to 3-10 on the season, while the Highlanders improve to 9-4.

The Blue and Green needed a tiebreak victory from Carlo Checchia (Brasilia, Brazil) and Sebastien Leitz (Nimes, France) on court two to grab the doubles point, giving FGCU a 1-0 lead in the match.

In singles play, NJIT picked up three straight-set wins, taking a 4-2 lead. On court three, Leitz claimed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Fraser Croad, pulling the Eagles with a point at 4-3. The Blue and Green needed wins on courts four and five to pull out a win, but instead they earned a split of the final two matches. Mitchell Lvovsky (Dania Beach, Fla.) earned a 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 win on court five, but Matthew Rock (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) fell in a hard-fought match on court four, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.

The Eagles will travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a pair of A-Sun matches this weekend. FGCU will play at Lipscomb at 2 p.m. on Friday (Mar. 19) and at Belmont at 9 a.m. on Saturday (Mar. 20).

The final home match of the season will be next Thursday, Mar. 25 at 2 p.m. against Mercer University. Seniors Thibaud Aime (Figeac, France), Raphael Costa (Brasilia, Brazil), and Gonzalo Rafael De Villa (Miami, Fla.) will be honored prior to the start of the match.

Doubles

1. Rock/Aime (FGCU) def. Abreu/Lundquist (NJIT) 8-5
2. Checchia/Leitz (FGCU) def. Erickson/Chiujdea (NJIT) 8-7 (2)
3. Salomon/Keelan (NJIT) def. Lvovsky/Echeverry (FGCU) 8-3

Singles

1. Stephen Erickson (NJIT) def. Thibaud Aime (FGCU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Carl Lundquist (NJIT) def. Carlo Checchia (FGCU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Sebastien Leitz (FGCU) def. Fraser Croad (NJIT) 6-3, 6-2
4. Diego Abreu (NJIT) def. Matthew Rock (FGCU) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
5. Mitchell Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Cosmin Chiujdea (NJIT) 5-7, 6-0, 6-1
6. Dimitri Athans (NJIT) def. Gabriel Echeverry (FGCU) 6-1, 6-3