LAKEWOOD RANCH, FLA.- Marcelo Tebet and Mateo Ruiz marched their way to the doubles final at the Dick Vitale Invitational this weekend, leading the FGCU Eagles in their final team competition of the fall season.

"This was another impressive performance by the guys in doubles" head coach CJ Weber said.  "Mateo has especially learned a lot about himself and catapulted his doubles game to another level this year! Marcelo was a great complement to him as well, and when they both play aggressive, I could see them beating anybody in the country. Florida State played well in the final and took it from us; but I was really pleased the way both Mateo and Marcelo played throughout the weekend. For all the other guys, it was a good weekend of competition as well. Every win in this tournament is a quality win, and we picked up some great W's over some of the most premier tennis programs in the country! We've been challenged a lot this fall, and we've learned a lot about ourselves, so now we will see if we can implement these things in our spring championship season."

Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colegio Anglo Americano) and Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) began their tournament with an easy win in the first round of the doubles bracket, breezing to a 6-0 win over Princeton to move onto the quarters.  Their quarterfinal matchup proved to be even easier as they took a walkover win against Michigan to reach the round of four. In the semis, they took on a pair from Notre Dame and again had little trouble, putting their stamp on a huge weekend with an 8-3 win over the Irish.  In the tournament final, the Eagles duo fought tooth and nail with Florida State's Wood/Thongonoa, but came up just short in the end in an 8-5 defeat to finish second. 

In singles action, the Eagles sent four players to the fold.  Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia) was the lone player to earn a win in the first round of the main draw as he took down Bryn Nahrung of Florida State in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the quarters.  His tournament came to a close however in the quarterfinal found as Gabe Tichman of Michigan outlasted him in a grinding three setter 6-4, 5-7, 10-6. 

Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain) and Ezequiel Cerrini (Buenos Aires, Argentina) both dropped their first round matches before battling back in the consolation bracket with wins.  Cerrini earned wins over Florida State and Florida in the backdraw while Fernandez picked up his win over Notre Dame.  Both players were bounced by Enzo Le Seguillon of Florida State late in the draw to end their weekends. 

Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia) didn't take part in the main draw, but earned a pair of 'practice match' victories as he downed Kristofer Siimar of Michigan and Harrison Cacciatore of Florida by 8-4 and 8-6 counts respectively.

The tournament wraps up the Eagles Fall team schedule. Now FGCU will watch as Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/TCU) pairs with Ruiz to become the first players in program history to compete in the ITA National Championships in Surprise, Arizona.  The pair will begin play on Wednesday in the desert, fans can keep up with the two by CLICKING HERE throughout the tournament.

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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.