FORT MYERS, Fla. – In a match featuring last season's regular season champion and the tournament champion, the FGCU men's tennis team suffered a 6-1 loss to UNF Saturday night. The loss was the first ASUN Conference loss in 20 matches, a streak dating back to 2014. FGCU falls to 5-9 overall and 1-1 in ASUN action while UNF improves to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

"Tonight was a tough match for us," said head coach CJ Weber. "I want to thank all of the fans who came out and supported us tonight. It was our best crowd so far this year, and we're going to keep working hard to do better next time. UNF played great tonight and deserved the win."

The Eagles, who haven't lost to a conference foe in the regular season since 2014, dropped the doubles point following losses at No. 2 and No. 3

Trailing 1-0 for the second-straight conference match, FGCU attempted to come back in hopes of keeping its 19-match conference winning streak alive.

A loss at No. 1 from Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) to #58 Jack Findel-Hawkins made it 2-0 in favor of the visitors and the Ospreys quickly made it 3-0 following Mateo Ruiz's (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) loss at No. 3 to Yannick Zuern.

With FGCU in need of wins at all remaining courts, Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) battled back at No. 5 from 4-0 down to tie his second set at 4-4 and take a 5-4 lead. Sahil Dashmukh however would win three of the next four sets to win 7-6 in the second set and clinch the match for UNF.

FGCU picked up its first point at No. 6, with a win from Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) over Jonathan Deautriell 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.
UNF picked up the final two points, with wins at No. 4 and No. 2. At No. 4 Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Texas Christian University) fell to

Lasse Musheites 4-6, 7-5, 10-4. Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) dropped a 6-7, 6-4, 10-4 decision to #96 Jefta Kecic at No. 2.

UP NEXT
The Eagles go on the road to face USC Upstate and NJIT March 30 and April 1 respectively.

FULL RESULTS
DOUBLES
1) Landert/Ramirez (FGCU) vs. Findel-Hawkins/Kecic (UNF) DNF
2) Zuern/Muscheites (UNF) def. Ruiz/Cerrini (FGCU) 6-2
3) Deshmukh/Deautriell (UNF) def. Bates/Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-1
SINGLES
1) #58 Findel-Hawkins (UNF) def. Landert (FGCU) 6-2, 6-2
2) #96 Kecic (UNF) def. Ramirez (FGCU) 6-7, 6-4, 10-4
3) Zuern (UNF) def. Ruiz (FGCU) 6-4, 6-0
4) Muscheites (UNF) def. Alfonzo (FGCU) 4-6, 7-5, 10-4
5) Deshmukh (UNF) def. Cerrini (FGCU) 6-2, 7-6
6) Fernandez (FGCU) def. Deautriell (UNF) 6-3, 2-6, 10-8
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 2), Singles (1, 3, 5, 6, 4, 2)

CJ WEBER
FGCU is led by CJ Weber who has coached 23 ASUN All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his fifth year, Weber has compiled a 69-52 (.600) overall record and a 27-12 (.694) record in ASUN 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. The Eagles completed consecutive perfect ASUN seasons in 2016 and back-to-back conference titles as well as a second-straight Coach of the Year honor for Weber.
 
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.
 
#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.