Box Score ORLANDO, Fla. – On its final day in Orlando, the FGCU men's tennis team suffered a 6-1 defeat to BYU Monday at the USTA National Campus. The Eagles (0-2) dropped a hard-fought doubles point and to the Cougars (2-0) and never recovered as the opening weekend of the spring came to an end.

"Today was a horrible effort," said head coach CJ Weber. "BYU was ready to fight and compete today and we were not. We have a really good team on our hands, but that doesn't mean anything unless we are more prepared to fight in all of our matches. We have some very basic lessons that we need to learn very quickly."

FGCU's grueling start to the spring season featuring three NCAA-tested opponents from 2017 in its first four matches continued Monday morning with a BYU side that won 13 games last season and finished third in the WCC. After Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) suffered a 6-2 loss to Sean Hill and Jeffrey Hsu at No. 1 doubles, the Green and Blue fought back with a 7-5 victory at No. 2 doubles. A hard-fought match featuring Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) for FGCU and Sam Tullis and John Pearce for BYU, swung the way of the Eagles late to give FGCU the chance to win the doubles point for the second-straight match.

Just moments after Escobar and Ruiz celebrated their win, however, Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) and Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) dropped a tough 7-5 match to Matthew Pearce and David Ball of the Cougars.

Landert supplied the lone victory for FGCU on the day, defeating Tullis 6-2, 6-3 but the gap increased as the match turned to singles play. Escobar was the first to fall, dropping a 6-0, 6-2 to John Pearce. After Bates fell 6-4, 6-0 to Ben Gajardo, Ramirez could not recover from a difficult first set, losing to Hill 7-5, 6-1.

Losses by Ruiz at No. 2 and Fernandez at No. 5 completed the day's results. Ruiz, who dropped his first set 6-4, nearly forced a third set but Hsu held off the Colombian 7-6 in the second set. Fernandez did force a third set in his match again Matthew Pearce, but could not complete the comeback dropping his match 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.

UP NEXT
FGCU's schedule remains strong as the Eagles head to Tallahassee to face the #21 Florida State Seminoles and former ASUN-foe ETSU. FGCU and FSU meet Saturday, January 20 at 10 a.m. while the Eagles and Buccaneers are slated for an 11 a.m. start Sunday.

COMPLETE RESULTS
Doubles Results
1) Sean Hill/Jeffrey Hsu (BYU) def. Oliver Landert/Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) 6-2
2) Felipe Escobar/Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) def. Sam Tullis/John Pearce (BYU) 7-5
3) Matthew Pearce/David Ball (BYU) def. Austin Bates/Javier Fernandez (FGCU) 7-5
Singles Results
1) Sean Hill (BYU) def. Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) 7-5, 6-1
2) Jeffrey Hsu (BYU) def. Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) 6-4, 7-6
3) Oliver Landert (FGCU) def. Sam Tullis (BYU) 6-2, 6-3
4) John Pearce (BYU) def. Felipe Escobar (FGCU) 6-0, 6-2
5) Matthew Pearce (BYU) def. Javier Fernandez (FGCU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
6) Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Austin Bates (FGCU) 6-4, 6-0
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3) Singles (4, 6, 1, 2, 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 sixth year, Weber has compiled a 74-58 (.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.