KENNESAW, Ga. – After wrapping up the non-conference schedule with a record of 9-5, including a pair of wins over nationally ranked opponents in then-No. 71 Miami and then-No. 72 UC Irvine, the FGCU men's tennis team will open up the Atlantic Sun Conference season this weekend as the Eagles visit the Peach State and the Palmetto State to take on Kennesaw State on Mar. 18 at 4 p.m., and USC Upstate on Mar. 21 at 2 p.m.
 
The match against Kennesaw State was originally slated for Thursday, Mar. 19 at 1 p.m., but inclement weather is moving into the area, and has forced a change in the schedule. The match will now be played at the Fair Oaks Tennis Center Wednesday at 4 p.m.
 
With the arrival of head coach CJ Weber in the fall of 2011, FGCU has become one of the most feared opponents in the Southeast region in three short years. After taking over a program that finished the 2011 spring championship season with a lackluster 3-18 (1-9 Atlantic Sun) record, Weber has guided the Eagles to a steady improvement day in and day out.

• 2012 season: 7-10 (4-5 Atlantic Sun). First-ever A-Sun Tournament bid.
• 2013 season: 11-11 (4-4 Atlantic Sun). First-ever A-Sun Tournament win over fifth-seeded USC Upstate in the quarterfinal round, 4-2.
• 2014 season: 12-10 (6-2 Atlantic Sun). Division-I record 12 wins. Program-record six conference wins. Defeated the sixth-seed Mercer in the quarterfinal round in the A-Sun Tournament.
• 2015 season: 9-5. Upset wins over then-No. 71 Miami (4-1) and then-No. 72 UC Irvine (4-3).

"We had a great non-conference schedule to prepare us for this part of the season," Weber said. "We are excited to get things underway at Kennesaw and USC Upstate. I am expecting nothing but the best from our team."
 
LAST TIME OUT
FGCU played host this past weekend against East Carolina and Southern Mississippi under the lights. In its first home match in almost two weeks, FGCU did not disappoint its loyal fans as the Eagles won against ECU with a score of 4-0 this past Thursday night. The Green and Blue clinched the doubles point with ease, winning 6-1 and 6-0 in the No. 2 and 3 slots. In singles play, FGCU started the contest on fire, winning the first sets from all courts. ECU retaliated, but FGCU ultimately put the Pirates away after winning three matches in the No. 1, 3 and 4 slots.
 
Two days later against Southern Mississippi, the Eagles once again stayed focus to blank the Golden Eagles with a 4-0 score. Initially scheduled for a 5 p.m. start time, the contest was held under rain delay two times. Despite the unforeseen situation, FGCU made sure to play its best tennis regardless, as the Eagles won the doubles point after winning in the No. 1 and 3 slots. In singles action, both sides had their fair share of momentum, but it was FGCU who maximized its opportunities, winning the No. 1, 4 and 5 slots in straight sets to hand Southern Mississippi its fifth loss of the season.
 
The Decorated Duo
The senior co-captains of Jordi Vives (Barcelona, Spain/IES Ferran Tallada/USC) and Tianyu Bao (Tianjin, China/Bayshore HS (Bradenton, Fla.)) are arguably one of the most successful duos in program history. Bao has produced solid and consistent results in the last three and half years for the Eagles. After transferring from the University of Southern California, Vives has established himself as one of the best players in the Southeast region in his three years as an Eagle.
 
Jordi Vives
• Second FGCU player to reach a combination of 100 wins.
• Winningest player in FGCU history
• Winningest Division-I singles player for FGCU
• Second winningest DI doubles player for FGCU
• Two-time Atlantic Sun First-Team All Conference (13' 14')
• Reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year (14')
• Reached a program-high ITA No. 35 in the 2014 spring season, the highest ranked player from Florida.
• Claimed the program's first NCAA win over then-No. 114 Philippe Tsangaridis of Coastal Carolina in the 2014 NCAA Championship
• The Southeast's recipient of the 2014 ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership & Sportsmanship Award
• Won total of four individual titles (FGCU Fall Invite singles 13' 14'. FGCU Fall Invite doubles 14'. Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic 14')
• Currently owns 111 wins (42 doubles, 69 singles)
 
Tianyu Bao
• Third FGCU player to reach a combination of 100 wins
• Winningest Division-I doubles player for FGCU
• Third winningest DI singles player for FGCU
• Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year (12')
• Atlantic Sun Second Team All Conference (13')
• Atlantic Sun First Team All Conference (14')
• Won total of two individual titles (FGCU Fall Invite doubles 13', 14')
• Currently owns 105 wins (47 doubles, 58 singles)
 
FEELING THE GROOVE
Junior transfer Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona) is putting together an impressive spring slate for FGCU as the Barcelona, Spain native is currently 10-3 in singles play. Ventura finished last weekend at home with a 1-0 singles record after beating Fredric Lehfeldt of ECU 6-2, 2-6, 6-0. After falling against Christian Gonzalez Mendez of No. 31 Florida State in the season opener, Ventura has won seven matches in a row, highlighted by a dominating win over Bernard Tefel of then-No. 71 Miami with a score of 6-1, 6-0, before his win streak was snapped against Chris Barrus of UCF on Feb. 28. His seven-match win streak is the second longest in the program history, trailing only behind senior Jordi Vives' 14 match win streak set in the 2013-14 campaign.
 
#ASUNMTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After an undefeated home-opening weekend for the Eagles, sophomore Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Texas Christian University) was named Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 4. Vives would earn A-Sun Player of the Week honors the following 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. After a 5-1 individual record in both singles and doubles action, Vives earned his second A-Sun Player of the Week award of the season on Mar. 11. Vives finished the California trip with a 2-1 singles and 3-0 doubles record, highlighted by a comeback win against Ben Donovan of Cal Poly. Vives came back from four match-points down to outlast his opponent 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
 
HEATING UP
Junior Eduardo Alfonzo (Valencia, Venezuela/Barry University) is having an up and down season so far. After opening the spring season by winning six matches in a row, including wins over lineup players from LSU, Rice, TCU and Memphis, Alfonzo dropped seven matches in a row, three of those were decided in the third set. This past Saturday against Southern Miss, Alfonzo decided not to waste all of his hard work leading up to the match, as the transfer from Barry University was nothing but clutch against Mikhail Esipov in the No. 5 slot, winning a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 match for the Eagles.
 
SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE
Kennesaw State, led by former Arkansas assistant coach Eduardo Rincon, is currently 5-6 on the season after wins over Georgia Southern, Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville State, Austin Peay and Alabama State. The Owls have faced mutual opponents with FGCU in Miami, FAU and Troy. Kennesaw State has fallen to all three of those schools while FGCU bested Miami and FAU before dropping a nail-biter to Troy.
 
Simon Pritchard occupies the Owls' top singles slot with a 7-3 record in the dual-match season. The 2014 A-Sun First Team All-Conference selection and A-Sun All-Freshman Team member, Pritchard is 3-2 in the last five outings. David Durham and Drew Wendel lead the Owls in the No. 1 doubles slot with a record of 4-5. The duo is recently coming off a big win against Andy Lau and Pablo Moreno of No. 58 Troy with a score of 8-4.
 
FGCU is 4-2 all-time against Kennesaw State, and 3-0 since Weber's arrival. During last season's contest at The Nest, the Eagles dropped a close doubles point, but stormed back to beat the Owls 5-2 after winning five out of six singles matches.
 
SCOUTING USC UPSTATE
USC Upstate, led by head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein, is 1-12 on the season. Despite the departure of Viktor Selander, Yvon Haessig, Gonzalo Blanco and the 2013 A-Sun Player of the Year Matthias Kidler, USC Upstate still has one of the better squads in the conference, despite only having one win.
 
Ramon Simonetti mans the No. 1 slot for the Spartans, going 5-7 on the season. Partnering with Jamie Yates and Rajanvir Dharni, Simonetti owns a record of 1-3 with two different partners.
 
FGCU is 2-5 all-time against the Spartans, and 2-1 in Weber's era. FGCU paid a visit to Spartanburg, S.C. last season and left with a 4-3 thriller after then-senior Gabriel Echeverry (Popayan, Colombia/Gimnasio Calibio) posted a comeback clincher win in the No. 6 singles, beating Rajanvir Dharni 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Echeverry was down a break in the third set with Dharni serving for the match, but Echeverry broke Dharni's serve and won two straight games to win the match 7-5.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU will take the show back to The Nest as the Eagles welcome Lipscomb on Mar. 26, and Northern Kentucky on Mar. 28, both matches are slated at a fan-friendly 5 p.m. start time. As always the admission is free of charge.
 
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.