FORT MYERS, Fla. – Coming off one of its best efforts of the season against a nationally-ranked opponent the FGCU men's tennis team brings the No. 4 seed into this weekend's ASUN Conference Championships. The Eagles are set to face the No. 5 USC Upstate Spartans in a rematch of last season's semifinal.

FGCU is hosting the annual tournament for the first time and there will be no charge for admission to the events. FGCU and USC Upstate will play alongside the other quarterfinal, No. 6 Lipscomb and No. 3 Kennesaw State at 5 p.m. Friday. The winner of the FGCU/USC Upstate match will advance to face No. 1 UNF Saturday at 5 p.m. while the winner of the Owls and Bisons will face No. 2 Stetson Saturday at 5 p.m. The final is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN 3.

THE GREEN AND BLUE
While the result went against the Eagles (7-12, 3-3 ASUN), FGCU's season finale against #34 Memphis was perhaps one of the best displays all season.

FGCU earned wins at No. 4 and No. 1 to cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 before the Tigers finished off the match with a victory at No. 2. The Eagles dropped the first set on five of the six singles courts but came back to force a third set on three of those courts.

Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) began to give FGCU confidence with a swift 6-3 second set win after dropping his first 6-2. The sophomore then put the Green and Blue on the board with a 6-2 third set win. Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) was next to finish, grinding out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over #79 Ryan Peniston to make it 3-2 in favor of Memphis.

Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) ended up being the deciding match, but after falling 6-0 in his first set to #105 Andrew Watson, Ruiz evened the match with a 6-3 win in the second. The sophomore then fell behind 3-1 in his third set, only to come back to bring the set score to 4-3 in favor of Watson. The Tiger won the final two games to secure the win.

Ramirez leads the Eagles with 10 wins this spring and is the only top-seeded player in the ASUN to have an undefeated record at No. 1 singles. Meanwhile, Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) and Cerrini lead the ASUN at their respective spots in the lineup.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Recent meetings between the Eagles and Spartans have been hotly contested matches, including a 4-3 win for FGCU earlier this season. Upstate (6-15, 2-4 ASUN) has a combined 22 wins from its No. 5 and No. 6 spots in the lineup and Ignacio Garrido has produced 12 of them. Meanwhile, Felix Ewers has held down the top spot, collecting seven wins but only one of them have come during ASUN play.

Fernando Bernardes and Garrido have been the most successful doubles pairing, producing a 10-8 record.

With FGCU's win earlier this season, the Eagles and Spartans have split the 12 meetings in the all-time series. The Eagles have won six of the last seven matches.

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 71-55 (.600) overall record and a 29-14 (.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.