FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the second time in three seasons the FGCU men's tennis program is heading to the NCAA Tournament. With a 4-2 victory over No. 6 Lipscomb (7-14), the No. 4-seed FGCU Eagles (10-12) secured the ASUN Tournament title and the conference's automatic bid.

FGCU will have to wait at least a week to find out its destination and opponent. Information has not been released regarding the official date and time of the bracket release.

"I knew today was going to be a really tough match," said head coach CJ Weber. "Lipscomb has a really tough team. I told their coach at the end that the ASUN has arrived. We've been talking about getting this conference better and Lipscomb being a six-seed proves how good the conference is now. Fortunately, we used some of our experience at the bottom to get the W. Hats off to Lipscomb though, they fought so hard and they gave us everything. Fortunately, we got the doubles point."

Leading 3-2, the match came down to the ASUN's Freshman of the Year Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Texas Christian University), both of whom led in their respective third sets. With Alfonzo leading 4-3 on Court 5 over Jorge Ortegon , Ramirez was in the midst of breaking serve up 5-2. Rob Mitchell's second serve faulted, sending the Eagles into a frenzy for the second-straight night and into the NCAA Tournament.

Ramirez's win and the ensuing celebration was set up by an energized Eagles team that returned to the courts 13 hours after claiming a dramatic 3-2 win over their rivals UNF earlier in the day. Dominant performances on all three doubles courts led to victories on Courts Two and Three to give the Eagles an early 1-0 advantage.

It was Alfonzo, later named the ASUN Championship MVP, and Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) to finish first, cruising to a 6-1 victory over Mitchell and Daniel Cardenas at No. 2 doubles. Later, Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) picked up a 6-2 win at No. 3 over George Wong and Jorge Ortegon. On Court One, Ramirez and Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) were well positioned to claim a doubles match of their own, leading 4-2 at the time Ruiz and Fernandez clinched the point.

When the match transitioned to singles, Fernandez took control at No. 6 and made quick work of George Wong 6-1, 6-0 but Lipscomb responded with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 around Cerrini's victory at No. 4. Cerrini's 6-4, 6-0 win was anything but easy as the sophomore trailed 4-3 in the first set only to win three-straight games to take the set. Cerrini battled through injury late in the second set and broke serve to win the match with a punishing forehand.

Following the match, Fernandez and Ramirez were named to the All-Tournament Team, with Alfonzo earning Championship MVP honors.

All-Tournament Team
MVP - Andres Alfonzo, FGCU
Javier Fernandez, FGCU
Felipe Ramirez, FGCU
Rob Mitchell, Lipscomb
Alejandro Manzanares, Lipscomb
Victor Chaw, Lipscomb

FULL RESULTS
DOUBLES
1) Landert/Ramirez (FGCU) vs. Manzanares/Chaw (LU) 4-2 DNF
2) Alfonzo/Cerrini (FGCU) def. Mitchell/Cardenas (LU) 6-1
3) Fernandez/Ruiz (FGCU) def. Wong/Ortegon (LU) 6-2
SINGLES
1) Ramirez (FGCU) def. Mitchell (LU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
2) Manzanares (LU) def. Ruiz (FGCU) 6-1, 6-0
3) Chaw (LU) def. Landert (FGCU) 6-4, 7-5
4) Cerrini (FGCU) def. Cardenas (LU) 6-4, 6-0
5) Alfonzo (FGCU) vs. Ortegon (LU) 6-1, 5-7, 4-3 DNF
6) Fernandez (FGCU) def. Wong (LU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: Doubles (2, 3), Singles (6, 2, 4, 3, 1)

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 74-55 (.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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