TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Following a dominant win over St. John's to open the 2016 season, the FGCU men's tennis team turns its attention to Tallahassee for a pair of non-conference matches in the state capitol. While in Tallahassee, the Eagles will face No. 73 South Alabama and No. 31 Florida State.
FGCU enters Sunday's match with South Alabama 1-0 while both the Jaguars and Seminoles begin the 2016 season Saturday.
LAST TIME OUTFGCU defeated the defending Big East Champions St. John's 4-0 to open the 2016 dual season. FGCU received wins from
Eduardo Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Barry University),
Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Texas Christian University) and the first career win of
Javier Fernandez's (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) career to clinch its season-opening victory. The Green and Blue secured the doubles point behind victories from
Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona) and
Lucas Vaz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Fleming/Tulsa) at No. 2 doubles and
Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) and
Chris Perrigan (Tallahassee, Fla./Maclay HS) at No. 3 doubles.
Due to rain in the Fort Myers area, matches at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 singles were not finished.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARSSouth Alabama enter 2016 at No. 73 in the national rankings, three spots below its final 2015 ranking. The Jaguars are led by Tuki Jacobs, the No. 7 singles player in the Southern Region. Jacobs represented Namibia at the Davis Cup in October and has already posted a 14-5 record following the fall. Last season, Jacobs went 24-8.
In addition to Jacobs, Gerhard Gruindelingh carries a 7-7 record into the spring but has lost four straight singles matches. Jacobs played the majority of his matches at No. 4 singles last season while Gruindelingh competed from No. 3 singles to No. 6 singles.
The Jaguars finished third last season in the Sun Belt with a 16-9 overall record. South Alabama will have to replace Daniel Leitner, who won 14 matches at No. 1 singles and five additional matches at No. 2 singles. Leitner along with Gruindelingh made up the No. 1 doubles team for USA, as the pairing ended 2015 with a 12-3 record.
SCOUTING THE SEMINOLESThe Eagles will get another look at Florida State when the two meet Monday in Tallahassee. FGCU is 0-3 against Florida State all-time in dual competitions but the Eagles and Seminoles will share the courts for the fourth time already this season. The two have met previously at the Bedford Cup, the ITA Southeast Regionals and at the USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational.
Andres Alfonzo has squared off against the Seminoles in three singles matches and one doubles match, with the Eagle coming out on top on three occasions. Meanwhile, Vaz has split his two doubles matches and Ventura won his singles match but lost his doubles match earlier this season.
The Seminoles return five of their top six singles players from last season, including No. 1 Benjamin Lock who has already secured 10 wins in 2015-16 including four in a row to end the fall. Lock also carries the No. 15 singles ranking nationally as FSU enters the first weekend of the spring campaign. Michael Rinaldi and Marco Nunez split time at No. 2 singles last year with Rinaldi winning seven matches, but it is Nunez who enters with the No. 77 ranking in the nation.
In doubles, the No. 1 pairing of Lock and Nunez return for the Seminoles, however, look for Jose Gracia and Nunez to be the lead duo for Florida State this spring as the doubles team enters the dual season with the No. 14 team in the nation. The Seminoles also boast the No. 55 duo in Terrance Whitehurst and Terrell Whitehurst, who finished the fall 3-3.
NEXT UPFGCU remains on the road but will have a bit of a break between dual matches. The Eagles will travel to Boca Raton to meet with FAU Friday, Jan. 29, before coming home to play host to Bethune-Cookman Feb. 5.
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 of competition.
CJ WEBER FGCU is led by
CJ Weber who has coached 16 A-Sun All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his fifth year, Weber has compiled a 48-37 (.565) overall record and a 20-11 (.645) record in A-Sun play. In 2014-15, Weber guided the Eagles to their first-ever Atlantic Sun Championship and first-ever Atlantic Sun Regular Season title after a program-best 17 wins. In his third season, Weber led
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.
#FEEDFGCU FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
