FORT MYERS, Fla- Fresh off its first win over a nationally ranked opponent at No. 71 Miami, the FGCU men's tennis team (5-1) will look to stay hot this weekend as the Eagles travel to Daytona Beach to take on Troy University (5-4) on Feb. 13 and Bethune-Cookman (1-1) on Feb. 14. Both matches are slated to start at 11 a.m.
 
HISTORY REWRITTEN
After a pair of wins last weekend, senior Jordi Vives (Barcelona, Spain/IES Ferran Tallada/USC) became the most decorated player in program history. Vives claimed his 100th win as an Eagle, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, over Dillon Segur of Liberty becoming the first player from FGCU to do so. The next day Vives became the winningest D1 singles player in program history with 63 wins as the Barcelona, Spain native posted an upset win over then-ITA No. 56 Piotr Lomacki of Miami with a score of 6-4, 7-5, surpassing former great and current assistant coach Dean Tsamas (62). Two-time Atlantic Sun First Team All Conference selection and reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, Vives currently has a combination of 101 wins (38 doubles, 63 singles) and will look to add more success to his already adorned collegiate career.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Winners of five straight matches, FGCU capped off a perfect weekend in South Beach with a pair of wins over Liberty and No. 71 Miami. Against Liberty, the Eagles claimed the No. 2 doubles match with a score of 6-0 for the third match in a row as sophomore Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Texas Christian University) and freshman Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) made a quick work of Liberty's Jorge Azuero and Diego Castano. Senior co-captain duo of Tianyu Bao (Tianjin, China/Bayshore HS (Bradenton, Fla.)) and Vives quickly followed suit in the No. 1 slot with a 6-3 decision over Egon Samaai and Dillon Segur of the Flames. FGCU would stay focused in singles action to claim five out of six matches from the No. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 slots.
 
Less than 24 hours removed from their victory over the Flames, the Eagles defeated a nationally ranked opponent for the first time in program history as the Eagles bested No. 71 Miami by a dominating score of 4-1. FGCU dropped a quick doubles point, but was unfazed as the Eagles quickly regroup and won four singles matches in straight sets. Junior Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona) leveled the match to 1-1 after a no-nonsense 6-1, 6-0 decision over Bernard Tefel in the No. 4 slot. Bao followed suit giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead after a quick 6-3, 6-3 score over Genovese in the No. 5 slot. Vives extended the lead to 3-1 after his 63th singles win as an Eagle with a 6-4, 7-5 over then-ITA No. 56 Piotr Lomacki. Sophomore Andres Alfonzo shut the door for the Eagles with a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Henrique Tsukamoto in the No. 2 slot, and FGCU's first win over a ranked opponent.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
After missing the entire fall season due to an injury, Jordi Vives has made an incredible comeback during the young spring season. Vives is ranked No. 107 in the nation, ITA officials announced on Tuesday morning.
 
Of his six wins, Vives bested two quality opponents, including a 7-6 (3), 6-3 decision over No. 17 TCU's Arnau Dachs, who is one of the Horned Frogs primary singles players, and cross-state rival FAU's Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff with a score of 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. The only loss Vives has suffered came in the season-opener against No. 32 Florida State's Benjamin Lock, falling 6-3, 6-3.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After an undefeated home-opening weekend for the Eagles, sophomore Andres Alfonzo was named Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the first time in his career two weeks ago. Vives would earn A-Sun Player of the Week honors the follow week after rejoining the national rankings at No. 107, helping the FGCU men's tennis team improve to 5-1 and becoming the winningest player at FGCU in the D-I era.
 
SCOUTING TROY
Troy University enters the contest with a 5-4 record, with their most recent results coming from a tightly contested match against No. 19 Ole Miss, falling 4-3 to the Rebels. Troy has faced a pair of mutual opponents with FGCU, as the Trojans bested Florida A&M 5-2 and falling to then-No. 35 Florida 4-0.
 
Troys' singles lineup is led by ITA No. 89 Gabriel Dias, who is 3-1 on the season. Dias earned his spot in the ITA rankings thanks to an upset win over ITA No. 34 Maxx Lipman of Florida 7-6 (1), 6-1. Pablo Moreno and Glovani Samaha occupied the Trojans' top doubles slot with a 2-1 record.
 
FGCU is 2-0 all-time against Troy, during its contest last year at the FGCU Tennis Complex, the Eagles bolstered a 5-2 win over the Trojans.
 
SCOUTING BETHUNE-COOKMAN
MEAC foe Bethune-Cookman currently holds a 1-1 record after a victory over Warner. Alexander Chepik leads the Wildcat's singles lineup with a 1-1 record in the No. 1 slot after beating Atlantic Sun foe Stetson's Nathan Debut 6-4, 7-6(2). Chepik also teams up with Gilbert Rotich in No. 1 doubles, going 1-1.
 
The Green and Blue are 5-0 all-time against Bethune-Cookman. The Wildcats visited The Nest last year and suffered a 5-2 defeat to the Eagles. Among the spectators during the contest, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) then-world-ranked No. 22 Kevin Anderson, a long-time friend of Weber, was present. Anderson turned pro in 2007 and has career wins over some of tennis' best including Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU will take a week off from the competition, and then welcome the Knights of UCF to The Nest on Saturday, Feb. 28 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 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.