­­­TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In the first of two dual matches against a ranked opponent this weekend, the FGCU men's tennis team lost 4-3 to No. 73 South Alabama Sunday. The Eagles dropped the doubles point but a strong showing in singles kept FGCU in the match throughout the morning and afternoon. With the loss, FGCU is 1-1 in 2016 and South Alabama moved to 2-1.

"South Alabama played a great match today and jumped on us on a couple courts, which I felt was ultimately the difference in the match," said head coach CJ Weber. "It was a really good match on a couple courts but I felt we could have done a better job adjusting to the indoor courts. We'll learn from the loss and move forward."

Similar to Thursday's dual with St. John's, FGCU split the first two doubles matches with Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona) and Lucas Vaz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Fleming/Tulsa) picking up the first win at No. 2 doubles, 6-3. Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Texas Christian University) and Eduardo Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Barry University) fell to 0-2 at No. 1 doubles with another tough loss, falling 6-2. Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) and Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) kept their match at No. 3 doubles close, but fell 6-4 to put FGCU down 1-0 in the match.

Ventura continued his strong start to the season, securing a win at No. 1 singles against Tim Srkala (6-4, 6-2) to tie the match at 1-1. However South Alabama regained the lead as Manfred Fellin (Monza, Italy/Liceo dello Sport Marco Pantani) dropped his FGCU-debut 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles against Juan Troglia.

Needing a win, Landert tied the dual with a win at No. 5 singles, defeating Gerhard Gruindelingh 6-3, 6-4. FGCU would never take the lead in the match however as Andres Alfonzo fell to Tuki Jacobs 6-0, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.

At No. 6 singles, Cerrini dropped his first set to Olivier Gringas 6-1, but came back to win the second set by the same score line. In the third set however, Cerrini fell 6-2, clinching the win for the No. 73 Jaguars. Eduardo Alfonzo finished the day at No. 4 singles with a 7-6, 7-5 win over Pierre Noyon.   

UP NEXT

The Eagles face perhaps its toughest test of the 2016 season when they take on the No. 31 Seminoles of Florida State Monday at 10 a.m. The Seminoles are currently 2-0 through the opening weekend of the 2016 season.

FGCU RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1 Gruindelingh/Gringas (USA) def. A. Alfonzo/E. Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-2
No. 2 Ventura/Vaz (FGCU) def. Srkala/Truglia (USA) 6-3
No. 3 Jacobs/Noyon (USA) def. Landert/Cerrini (FGCU) 6-4

Singles
No. 1 Ventura (FGCU) def. Srkala (USA) 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 Jacobs (USA) def. A. Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-0, 6-4
No. 3 Juan Troglia (USA) def. Manfred Fellin (FGCU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 E. Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Pierre Noyon (USA) 7-6, 7-5
No. 5 Landert (FGCU) def. Gruindelingh (USA) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Gringas (USA) def. Cerrini (FGCU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3), Singles (1, 3, 5, 2, 6, 4)

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 48-38 (.558) 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.