FORT MYERS, Fla. – Coming off their second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons the FGCU men's tennis program begins its quest for yet another ASUN title in 2018. The spring slate begins Sunday for the Eagles at the ITA Kickoff in Orlando where FGCU faces UNC-Wilmington and BYU.
 
FGCU's season-opener against the Seahawks is scheduled to begin Sunday at 1 p.m. with the Eagles and Cougars set to meet Monday at 11 a.m.
 
All matches will be streamed through the USTA National Campus Website.

PRESEASON FAVORITES
FGCU was named the preseason ASUN favorites Friday according to the league's coaches. FGCU garnered three first-place votes and 43 total votes, one more than Stetson. Both Stetson and UNF received two first-place votes.
 
A regular season title in 2018 would mark the program's third in four seasons and a fifth overall title in the same time span.
 
A LOOK BACK
Riddled with injuries, FGCU fought through adversity to earn the No. 3 seed in the 2017 ASUN Tournament and used its home court advantage to claim the tournament title. After defeating USC Upstate 5-1 in the quarterfinal, the Eagles defeated top-seeded UNF at 3:15 in the morning after a six-hour weather delay to advance to the finals. There, FGCU used a 4-1 decision to earn its second ASUN Tournament title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In FGCU's second trip to the tournament, the Eagles were matched against Florida, falling 4-0 in the First Round.

Following the regular season, Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) was named the ASUN's Freshman of the Year while Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) and Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) earned Second Team honors.
 
FALL HIGHTLIGHTS
Ramirez has continued his strong play, compiling seven wins in singles play during the fall, while Cerrini earned six victories of his own. Along with his play in singles, Cerrini teamed with Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) and the duo earned a B Flight doubles title at the Bedford Cup.
 
Meanwhile, the pairing of Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) and Fernandez garnered national attention and enter the spring ranked No. 57 in the country.

SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
UNC-Wilmington went 14-9 last season en route to a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament title. The Seahawks return the bulk of their lineup from last season, including each of their top five positions.

Ignasi de Rueda headlines those returning, compiling 14 wins last season. Daniel Groom won 11 singles matches while Andres Torres won nine.

Sunday marks the first meeting between the two programs.  

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
A third-place team in the West Coast Conference from last season, BYU sports a tough lineup featuring #89 Sean Hill. The Cougars finished 13-12 overall last season and had their season end at the hands of Santa Clara in the WCC Tournament.

Hill already has 10 wins this season to lead the Cougars, who narrowly edged Wilmington earlier today in Orlando.

This is the first meeting all-time between FGCU and BYU.

UP NEXT
FGCU stays on the road and travels to Tallahassee to meet ETSU and Florida State next weekend. The Green and Blue meet the Seminoles Saturday at 10 a.m. followed by a meeting with the Buccaneers Sunday at 11 a.m.

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 sixth year, Weber has compiled a 74-56 (.600) overall record and a 29-14 (.694) record in ASUN play. In 2014-15, Weber guided the Eagles to their first-ever ASUN Championship and first-ever ASUN 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.