FORT MYERS, Fla. – Nearly one year after falling to USC Upstate in the semifinals, the FGCU men's tennis team secured a 5-1 victory over the Spartans Friday night in the quarterfinals of the ASUN Championships. Simultaneous finishes by Oliver Landert and Andres Alfonzo clinched the match for No. 4 FGCU (8-12), in a 5-1 victory over USC Upstate (6-16).

With the win, FGCU advances to play the top-seeded Ospreys of UNF tomorrow at 5 p.m.

"I'm really proud of Oliver," said head coach CJ Weber. "He's had a lot of close matches but he's been playing great tennis. I don't know if he needed this because his tennis has been fine but it has to feel good for him to get a win for the team and to clinch the match. The last several years we've gone back and forth with UNF and it's an awesome rivalry and we always look forward to it. I want us to pack the house tomorrow."

Leading 3-1, Both Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) and Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Texas Christian University) led 5-3 on their respective courts and both on the verge of clinching the match for FGCU. Just after Alfonzo served, Landert officially clinched the match, defeating Ankush Arora 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. As Landert and Arora were shaking hands, Alfonzo secured his match win over Ignacio Garrido 7-5, 6-3. Because Alfonzo's point was in play when the match was clinched, his match was factored into the overall score.

"The doubles point was something we focused on a lot coming into today," Weber continued. "It hasn't been a huge strength of ours this season but that doesn't mean we can't finish with it being a strength. The guys did a great job; Oli and Felipe, to win a match at 6-1 against a team they got beat by earlier this year was really awesome. And for Mateo and Javi to save match point to clinch the doubles point was huge."

FGCU's convincing victory in the ASUN quarters was set up by a momentum-shifting doubles point. Doubles began with Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and Landert cruising to a 6-1 victory at No. 1 over Fernando Bernardes and Garrido. However, the Spartans evened the portion of the match with a win at No. 2 as the final pairing of Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) trailed 5-3. Known for making comebacks late in the match, FGCU's No. 3 pairing won four-straight games, including fighting off match point, to secure doubles point and put the Eagles in front 1-0.

The lead would disappear when Felix Ewers defeated Ramirez at No. 1 6-1, 6-0. But Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) assured there would be no comeback, making quick work of Bernardes 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles.

Fernandez then followed with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Francisco Neto at No. 6, setting the table for Landert and Alfonzo.

The final singles match paired Ruiz against Lenhard Haupt. After dropping his first set 6-4, Ruiz won his second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6.

FULL RESULTS
DOUBLES
1) Ramirez/Landert (FGCU) def. Bernardes/Garrido (UPST) 6-1
2) Ewers/Haupt (UPST) def. Alfonzo/Cerrini (FGCU) 6-4
3) Fernandez/Ruiz (FGCU) def. Arora/Neto (UPST) 7-5
SINGLES
1) Ewers (UPST) def. Ramirez (FGCU) 6-1, 6-0
2) Ruiz (FGCU) vs. Haupt (UPST) 4-6, 7-6, DNF
3) Landert (FGCU) def. Arora (UPST) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
4) Cerrini (FGCU) def. Bernardes (UPST) 6-1, 6-2
5) Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Garrdio (UPST) 7-5, 6-3
6) Fernandez (FGCU) def. Neto (UPST) 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3), Singles (1, 4, 6, 3, 5)

CJ WEBER
FGCU is led by CJ Weber who has coached 26 ASUN All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his fifth year, Weber has compiled a 72-55 (.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.
 
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