DeLAND, Fla. – Traveling to Stetson for its regular season finale, the FGCU men's tennis team capitalized on all of the opportunities presented in its match to beat Stetson, 5-2, Saturday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
 
With the win, FGCU (15-5, 6-0 A-Sun) extended its program-best win streak to nine, and is heading into next weekend's Atlantic Sun Tennis Championshup as the No. 1 seed. Stetson closed out its regular season slate with a record of 11-9 (3-3 A-Sun) and earned the No. 4 seed for next weekend.
 
"I'm very happy for this bunch of guys," head coach CJ Weber said. "This was a goal of ours from the start of the season, and they're the ones who put in the hard work and dedication to earn the A-Sun regular season title. This is a special moment in this program's history, but next week everybody is going to be gunning for us. We need to stay on edge and have a great week of preparation for the conference tournament. GO EAGLES!"
 
Senior co-captain Jordi Vives (Barcelona, Spain/IES Ferran Tallada/USC) and junior Eduardo Alfonzo (Valencia, Venezuela./Barry University) won in the No. 1 doubles slot, cruising past Loic Blanco and Laryunas Antropikas, 8-3. The junior duo of Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona) and Lucas Vaz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Fleming/Tulsa) clinched the doubles point for the Eagles with a powerful 8-2 decision over Graham Ball and Nathan Debut in the No. 2 slot.
 
Coming into the singles contest, both teams made adjustments in their lineups as Stetson pulled their No. 1 and No. 4 in Nathan Debut and Simon Julin while FGCU pulled Eduardo Alfonzo. FGCU was awarded one singles point after Stetson only had five players available. With the unexpected lead, the Eagles stayed focused, starting with Vives in the top singles slot, beating Antropikas 6-3, 6-4. One of the most consistent players on the team, Vives once again delivered to finished the A-Sun season undefeated for the second consecutive year. Vives owns an impressive 23-2 overall A-Sun record with his last loss coming from Jesus Bandres of former A-Sun foe East Tennessee State on Mar 30, 2013. 
 
Senior co-captain Tianyu Bao (Tianjin, China/Bayshore HS (Bradenton, Fla.)) clinched the match for the Eagles with a 6-2, 7-5 score over Chester Espie in the No. 4 slot. Bao was on point in the first set, but Espie stayed tough in the second to drag the score to 5-5. Bao was patient and aggressive to hold his serve, before breaking Espie's serve to win the contest. After the win, Bao surpasses former FGCU great and current assistant coach Dean Tsamas with his 63rd victory to become FGCU's second winningest singles player.
 
Senior co-captain Michael Beiler (Palm Harbor, Fla./Dunedin HS) rounded out the day for the Eagles with a 6-3, 6-1 score over Arroyo in the No. 5 slot. Beiler identified Arroyo's weakness right at the beginning of the match and kept pounding on it the entire match. Toward the end of the match, Arroyo was victimized by a right leg cramp, but Beiler stayed focus to put Arroyo away. After redshirting last season due to right shoulder injury, Beiler is making an admirable comeback, wrapping up the A-Sun slate with a perfect 6-0 record.
 
FGCU will take the show on the road this upcoming weekend, Apr. 17-19, to Jacksonville, Fla. to play the Atlantic Sun Tennis Championship hosted by North Florida. The Eagles are the No. 1 seed and received a first-round bye. The Green and Blue will take on the winner of No. 4 Stetson and No. 5 Kennesaw State in the semifinal round on Saturday, Apr. 18.
 
FINAL RESULTS

FGCU: 5 Stetson: 2  
 
SINGLES
1. Jordi Vives (FGCU) def. Laurynas Antropikas (STET) 6-3, 6-4
2. Loic Blanco (STET) def. Andres Alfonzo (FGCU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. Graham Ball (STET) def. Ricky Ventura (FGCU) 7-5, 6-3
4. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) def. Chester Espie (STET) 6-2, 7-5
5. Michael Beiler (FGCU) def. Gonzalo Arroyo (STET) 6-4, 6-0
6. Austin Bates (FGCU) def. No player (STET), by default
 
DOUBLES
1. Jordi Vives/Eduardo Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Loic Blanco/Laurynas Antropikas (STET) 8-3
2. Ricky Ventura/Lucas Vaz (FGCU) def. Nathan Debut/Graham Ball (STET) 8-2
3. Chester Espie/Gonzalo Arroyo (STET) vs. Tianyu Bao/Austin Bates (FGCU) unfinished
 
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.