ORLANDO, Fla. – The newly ranked No. 74 FGCU men's tennis team begins a stretch of three matches in two days Friday in Orlando. The Eagles meet UCF, Texas-Arlington and Connecticut beginning Friday.

The Green and Blue begin the weekend Friday against UCF at 2 p.m. Then on Saturday, FGCU meets UT-Arlington at 10 a.m. and Connecticut at 3 p.m.

BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT
With the release of the latest ITA Rankings Wednesday, FGCU entered the top-75 for the first time in 2016. At No. 74, FGCU earned its second ranking in program history.
At the conclusion of the 2014-15 season, the Eagles were ranked No. 75 following their first NCAA tournament appearance.

LAST TIME OUT
The Eagles improved their home record to 4-0 and their overall record to 5-2 with a victory over Tennessee Tech Friday. Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Texas Christian University) and Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) claimed the win at No. 2 doubles and Eduardo Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Barry University) and Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) sealed the doubles point with a win at No. 3 doubles.

In singles play, Andres Alfonzo gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead, claiming his fifth win of the dual season. Later, his brother Eduardo also earned his fifth victory of the season to cap the 5-2 victory. Fernandez and Manfred Fellin (Monza, Italy/Liceo dello Sport Marco Pantani) also earned wins in singles play, with the latter clinching the win for FGCU.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
The Knights (2-3) are in the midst of a five-match homestand and have won the first two heading into Friday. UCF is coming off of a 5-2 win over UNF along with a win over Louisiana-Lafayette. Earlier in the season, the Knights dropped a 4-1 decision to St. John's, a team FGCU defeated to open the 2016 campaign, 4-0.

UCF's success has come from the No. 1 and No. 4 spot in the lineup during singles play. Inaki Espindola (1-0) and Jose Sangroniz (1-1) have split time at the No. 1 position early on in 2016. Sangroniz is also 0-1 at No. 2 while Espindola has seen action at No. 2 and No. 3 singles as well.

In doubles play, Tyler Pate has seen the most success of any Knight, compiling a 6-3 mark while pairing with both Arjun Watane and Sangroniz. At No. 1 doubles, Chris Barrus and Espindola have been the most successful pairing, entering the weekend 2-1.

The Eagles have never defeated the Knights in dual play. FGCU is 0-5 all-time against UCF, including a 4-3 loss in Fort Myers last season. The loss to the Knights was the only home loss of the 2015 season.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
After dropping its first three matches, UT-Arlington (6-3) has won six-straight heading into the weekend. The Mavericks also face FAU Friday, prior to their meeting with FGCU. UT-Arlington has seen the majority of its success come in the middle of the lineup, highlighted by a 5-0 record at No. 3 singles by Mario Muniesa. Jhonathan Gonzalez has shouldered the No. 1 spot throughout the spring, carrying a 3-6 mark into the weekend. Carlos Arbiza, Daniel Armengol and Muiesa have each won five-straight matches.

In doubles, UT-Arlington relies heavily on No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, where the Mavericks are a combined 10-5. Arbiza and Pablo Colvee combined for the only two wins at No. 1 doubles while Daniel Armengol and Gonzalez are 5-1 at No. 2 doubles. The No. 3 pairing of Muniesa and Guanarteme Nuez bring an identical 5-1 record into the weekend.

Saturday will mark the first-ever dual meeting between FGCU and UT-Arlington.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Connecticut (2-10) began its dual season in the fall, ending 2015 with a 2-1 record. However since the New Year, the Huskies have dropped nine-straight heading into Saturday's contest with the Eagles. The Huskies have used three different options at their top singles position, including Jacob Spreyer who has a 2-4 record at No. 1. Meanwhile, Parker Goldstein has won a pair of matches at No. 3 singles and Zac McEntee has done the same at No. 6 singles.

In doubles play, the Huskies utilize the pairing of Spreyer and Christopher Toner at their No. 1 position, with the duo compiling a 3-7 record to this point of the season. The only other pairing with multiple wins is Arnaud Valentine and Justin Warren at No. 3 doubles.

FGCU and Connecticut have only met once prior to Saturday. In 2013, the Eagles came away 7-0 victors.

UP NEXT
With the non-conference season nearing an end, FGCU has two home non-conference matches remaining. The first of which is Feb. 27 against Florida A&M.

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 52-39 (.571) 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.