TAMPA, Fla. – Facing its third ranked opponent of the season, the FGCU men's tennis team fell 4-1 to No. 23 Penn State Sunday to conclude the USF Invite. With the loss, the Eagles have now lost consecutive matches for just the second time this season, falling to 9-6 this season. Penn State meanwhile is now 12-3.

"Today was another great fight from the guys, but unfortunately we got down early and lost a lot of first sets," said head coach CJ Weber. "So we were always fighting from behind and couldn't quite neutralize the match. We were very close to splitting sets on three of the courts and I would have loved to see those third sets."

Needing a strong start, the Eagles suffered defeats at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to start the afternoon.

As singles play began, Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona) fell 6-3, 6-0 to Constant De La Bassetiere at No. 2 singles, putting FGCU behind 2-0. Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) gave the Eagles a burst of energy, earning a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles over Ben Lieb.

"Oliver played great today and had a great weekend overall," Weber added. "I'm very proud he is getting rewarded for his work ethic. I feel like he is definitely finding himself on the court again."

Leonard Stakhovsky defeated Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Texas Christian University) 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot and Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) lost 6-1, 7-5 to Matt Barry at No. 3 singles to conclude the match.

"We played a couple of really tough teams this weekend," Landert said. "Against Troy, we played another really close match but unfortunately could not get the win. On Sunday, we showed we're not far away from beating a team that is ranked as high as Penn State. We're still learning a lot from playing these kinds of teams and I am sure that soon we will be able to come out on top."

The remaining matches were not finished.

FULL RESULTS
Doubles
1) Kohan/Lutschaunig (PSU) def. Ventura/Vaz (FGCU) 6-2
2) Stakhovsky/Barry (PSU) vs. A. Alfonzo/Cerrini (FGCU DNF
3) Galush/Laaribi (PSU) def. Landert/E. Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-2

Singles
1) Stakhovsky (PSU) def. A. Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-4, 6-3
2) De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Ventura (FGCU) 6-3, 6-0
3) Barry (PSU) def. Cerrini (FGCU) 6-1, 7-5
4) Hanzlik (PSU) vs. E. Alfonzo (FGCU) DNF
5) Landert (FGCU) def. B. Lieb (PSU) 6-4, 6-1
6) Collado (PSU) vs. Fernandez (FGCU) DNF

Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1), Singles (2, 5, 1, 3)

UP NEXT
FGCU makes its return to Southwest Florida, bringing an unblemished 5-0 home record into a Tuesday contest with Texas-San Antonio. The dual is scheduled to begin at 6 p.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 57-42 (.576) 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.