ATHENS, GA- Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz did something this weekend that no other Eagles in program history had done, advancing to the semifinal round of the ITA Southeast Regional Tournament, to lead FGCU in their marquee event of the fall.

"This year at regionals, I believe the team learned a lot about themselves and their game" head coach CJ Weber said. "Although not everybody performed up to their expectations, there were many positives to take away from the tournament. I'm extremely proud of Felipe and Mateo, this is the best result FGCU has ever had at regionals in doubles. I know they are disappointed, as their goal was to win the tournament, but they played some great tennis this weekend and it was a joy to watch them compete. We are now looking forward to this weekend playing on clay at Bonita Bay."

Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) stole the show in the doubles draw early on, picking up a dominating 8-3 win in their opening match over Croyder/Diaz of the University of Georgia to advance to the second round.  In the second round, they ran up against a familiar foe in Deshmukh/Nunez of North Florida and battled the Ospreys' pair to the bitter end before pulling out an 8-7 (3) decision to push on to the quarters.  Thought to be the first FGCU pair to ever advance to the quarterfinal round of the tournament, Escobar and Ruiz weren't satisfied yet, outlasting Kessler/Vale from the University of Florida to solidify their names in the record books as they reached the round of four.  Their storybook weekend came to a close Tuesday morning though as they dropped a hard-fought 6-2, 7-6 (3) decision to Florida State's Arcila/Knaff to finish the tournament in 3rd place. 

The other Eagles to draw a positive result in the doubles draw were Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) who picked up a big 8-6 win over Nahrung/Thongoana or Florida State in the first round before dropping a close 8-7 (5) final to Ingildsen/Berdusco of Florida in the second round to end their weekend. 

FGCU sent six into the unflighted singles draw. Sakalauskas had the most success for the Green and Blue, winning his first round matchup 7-6 (4), 6-2 over Luis Labarta of FAU and backing that up with a grinding 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 come from behind victory over William Smith of Miami to advance to the round of 16 in the qualifying bracket.  Needing one more victory to move onto the main draw, Sakalauskas came up just short, losing his first match of the fall season in a 6-4, 6-1 decision to Diego Padilha of Georgia Southern. 

Three other Eagles earned victories on the singles side.  Ruiz put up matching 6-3 set victories against Tim Gennes of Stetson while Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia) downed Ignacio Garcia of FAU 6-1, 6-1 and Ramirez traded 6-3 scores to a three set win over Dane Dunlap of Miami. 

Overall FGCU earned nine victories at the tournament. 

FGCU returns home for their next action when they host the likes of Illinois, Louisville, Memphis, Arkansas, and Kentucky in the Finemark/FGCU Collegiate Open at Bonita Bay Club Friday through Sunday.  For more information on that tournament, CLICK HERE.

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CJ WEBER
FGCU is led by CJ Weber who has coached 29 ASUN All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his seventh year, Weber has compiled a 83-68 (.549) overall record and a 32-17 (.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. FGCU again won the ASUN Championship in 2017, advancing to its second NCAA Tournament. 

#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.