FORT MYERS, Fla. – Coming off another successful season in 2014 which saw a 12-10 record and a second-straight semifinal trip to the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, the FGCU men's tennis team will be looking for more success in the 2015 championship season as the Eagles travel to the capital of the Sunshine State to face No. 35 Florida State Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and Florida A&M on Sunday 9 a.m.

"We're very excited to get our dual match season underway," head coach CJ Weber said. "These more or less preseason events have prepared us well. Now it's time to get this baby started and see what we're made of."
 
LAST TIME OUT
FGCU played against some of the toughest competition in the country which included No. 31 Ole Miss, No 37 TCU, No. 45 LSU and Conference USA foe Rice. The Eagles demonstrated that they can compete against some of the nation's elite as the Green and Blue tallied 18 total wins at the FGCU Spring Invitational this past weekend.
 
FGCU also sent Tianyu Bao (Tianjin, China/Bayshore HS (Bradenton, Fla.)), Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona), Eduardo Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Barry University) and Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla/Texas Christian University) this past Thursday to compete in the one-day Illinois/Memphis Individuals at Three Oaks Park in Estero. The Eagles won a singles and a doubles match, both opposite No. 23 Memphis.
 
THE CAPTAINS
The senior co-captains duo of Tianyu Bao and Jordi Vives demonstrated how to play FGCU doubles as they accounted for three out of FGCU's seven total wins during the Spring Invite. The pair wasted no time getting the weekend started as they used only 18 minutes to defeat Justin Butsch and Chris Simpson of LSU, 6-0, in Flight 1 doubles. Making his season debut since he suffered a wrist injury two weeks into the fall season, Vives synced with Bao perfectly on the court, leaving no room for comeback for the opposition.
 
The next day Bao and Vives continued their streak as they beat Rice's Jamie Malik and Srikar Alla in Flight 1 doubles 6-4. Bao and Vives started out the match with multiple break points in the opposition's first three service games but couldn't capitalize on the opportunities and had to settle for on-serve the majority of the match. With Rice serving at 4-4, Bao and Vives struck first to break the Owl's service game to lead the match at 5-4, then comfortably held their own service game to claim the victory at 6-4.
 
Win number three for Bao and Vives came in comeback fashion over Ricardo Jorge and Stefan Lindmark of Ole Miss in Flight 1 doubles. Lindmark played well with Jorge as they broke Bao's service in the first game of the match. Both teams held their own serve until 5-4, with Jorge serving for the match, Bao and Vives showed great discipline and resolve on the court as they broke Jorge's serve to level the match at 5-5. The match was decided in the tiebreaker as Bao and Vives rolled to a victory 7-6 (2). After the win, Bao and Vives are now 6-1 all-time on the doubles court for FGCU, their only loss came from the FGCU Fall Invitational in November, where the pair was forced to retire from the match due to Vives' injury.
 
Michael Beiler, the third captain for the Eagles, also got off to a great start at the FGCU Spring Invitational as the redshirt junior collected two wins on the singles court. In the first day of competition, Beiler (Palm Harbor, Fla./Dunedin HS) stormed back after dropping the first set to beat Andrew Korinek of LSU 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 in Flight 3 singles. Down 4-5 in the third set with two match points in Korinek's favor, Beiler maintained his composure as he saved two match points to level the match at 5-5, then won two more games to take the match.
 
Win number two for Beiler came from a close 7-6 (4), 6-4 over Henrik Munch in Flight 3 singles in Day 2 of the competition. The first set was a nail-biter as both players went back-and-forth and had to be decided by a tiebreaker, but Beiler showcased his shot-making skills by coming up with some big-time winners to win the tiebreaker 7-4. Munch showed great resilience in the second set as he played toe to toe against Beiler until 4-4, but Beiler was able to pull away from Munch with a 6-4 second set score.
 
THE ALFONZO'S
The Alfonzo brothers shined this past weekend on the singles court as they claimed four out of FGCU's 11 total singles wins at the FGCU Spring Invitational. The eldest brother, Eduardo, earned the family's bragging rights as the Barry transfer started out the spring season with a bang, going 3-0 on the singles court, including a win against a ranked opponent.

Eduardo claimed his first win of the spring season by defeating ITA No. 67 Tam Trinh of LSU, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in Flight 1 singles. Two days later, Eduardo powered through in his Flight 2 singles match against David Warren of Rice 6-4, 6-4. At the last day of the tournament, Eduardo capped off his spectacular weekend with a quick 6-2, 6-2 decision over TCU's Trey Daniels in Flight 2 singles. Four days later, Eduardo claimed his fourth win of the spring, defeating Patrick Mayer of No. 23 Memphis at the Illinois/Memphis Individuals at Three Oaks Park in Estero. Eduardo is currently 4-0 on the singles court this spring.
 
Despite only earning one singles win over the weekend, younger brother Andres proved to be a matchup nightmare for anyone. After a close 6-2, 6-4 loss against Jordan Daigle of LSU on the first day, the Hollywood, Fla. native turned around two days later and claimed a no-nonsense 6-3, 6-2 victory over Sriker Alla in Flight 1 singles. Alla, who upset ITA No. 80 Stefan Lindmark of Ole Miss the day before 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, wasn't able to keep up with Andres' consistent yet aggressive style of tennis as the TCU transfer earned his first singles win of the spring season. In the last day of the tournament, Andres fell just short against his former TCU teammate, ITA Preseason No. 34 and everyday No. 2 player on the Horned Frog's singles line up Nick Chappell, with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
 
 
SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE
No. 35 Florida State wrapped up a strong 2014 spring campaign, finishing with an 18-12 overall record and a trip to the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Tallahassee. Fla based school come into the weekend with a 3-0 record after defeating South Alabama, No. 71 St. John's and 2014 NCAA Tournament participant Denver, all at home. The Seminoles' singles line up is led by ITA Preseason No. 99 Marco Nunez who went 3-0 in the No. 1 and No. 2 spot in the early stage of the spring season. No. 24 Benjamin Lock and Nunez occupied the Nole's top doubles spot, going 1-1 over the past two weekends.
 
FGCU is 0-2 all-time against Florida State, the Seminoles beat the Eagles in a 7-0 decision in the 2013 season, then claimed another win over the Green and Blue 6-1. Both matches were played at Florida State.
 
SCOUTING FLORIDA A&M
Florida A&M finished the 2014 spring season with a 10-14 record and a semifinal appearance in the MEAC Conference Tournament. The Rattlers men's tennis program, which was suspended over the summer due to the financial issues, was reinstated before the fall 2014 season.
 
FGCU is 3-3 all-time against FAMU, 2-1 since Weber's arrival. The Eagles dropped a 4-3 decision at home in the 2012 season against then-No.71 Rattlers before claiming the next two victories in 2013 and 2014 season.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU will take a weekend off from competition, and will resume action on Jan. 30 versus cross-state rival FAU at the FGCU Tennis Complex at 5 p.m., then against Sun Belt foe Georgia Southern on Feb. 1 at noon.

CJ WEBER
FGCU is led by CJ Weber, who has coached 10 A-Sun All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his third season, Weber guided Jordi Vives to a No. 35 national ranking, a nation-leading 14-match unbeaten streak and the round of 32 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament – the program's first appearance. His teams have continually posted winning records and finished the 2014 season a Division-I best third in the conference with 12 wins.

#WINGSUP
Fans are encouraged to download the brand-new Wings Up mobile app in conjunction with SuperFanU. The fully-customized loyalty-rewards platform allows fans to check in at each of FGCU's sporting events to earn points throughout the school year toward exclusive prizes that can't be offered anywhere else.

FOLLOW ALONG
For complete coverage of FGCU men's tennis at the FGCU Spring Invite, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_MTEN and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of each day.