Box Score FORT MYERS, Fla. – Continuing its trend of dominating at home over the previous four years, the FGCU men's tennis team cruised past Florida A&M 6-1 Sunday afternoon. After a grueling test yesterday against FAU, the Eagles (2-5) bounced back to defeat the Rattlers (0-6) in front of their home fans.

"We've played a tough schedule to start and it's given us the opportunity to learn some things as we head into conference," said head coach CJ Weber. "Today, I thought we did a great job of being the more energetic team overall and that needed to be the main focus of ours in order to play our best. So overall, I'm happy with what the team did today. We'll keep working and getting better."

Entering the day with 31 wins at home over the previous four seasons against 15 losses, FGCU was primed to bounce back following the defeat to the Owls and they did just that. The Green and Blue made quick work of the Rattlers in doubles and clinched the match victory in less than two hours.

Playing No. 3 doubles, the new duo of Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and Nicolas Tibaudin (Buenos Aires, Argentina) set the tone early with an authoritative 6-1 victory over Samer Hasona and Rodney Sturgis. Less than 30 minutes from the start of the match, Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) took down Nourelidin Adam and Federico Nani 6-4 to secure the doubles point.

Similar to last week's match against Georgia Southern, Bates was the first off the courts with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over Sturgis at No. 6 in less than an hour. Approximately 45 minutes later, the Green and Blue secured the victory as Escobar won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 over Hasona and shortly after Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) defeated Luis Espinoza 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4.

The two sides played out the remaining matches with Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) rallying from behind in his first set to win 7-6, 6-3 to give the Eagles a 5-0 advantage.

Only courts 1 and 2 remained in action at that point and both required a third set. Ramirez, who won his first set 6-2, dropped his second set 7-6 before bouncing back to win 10-5 in the third. Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool), meanwhile, fought off Nani in the first set 7-5 but also dropped a difficult 7-6 tiebreaker in the second set. Cerrini then fell in the third 10-3.

FGCU is back in action Feb. 23 at the FGCU Tennis Complex when the Eagles welcome UT Arlington for a 5 p.m. match.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS
DOUBLES RESULTS
1) Felipe Escobar/Austin Bates (FGCU) def. Nourelidin Adam/Federico Nani (FAMU) 6-4
2) Mateo Ruiz/Javier Fernandez (FGCU) vs. Lebelo Mosehle/Luis Barres Espinoza (FAMU) 5-4, DNF
3) Felipe Ramirez/Nicolaus Tibaudin (FGCU) def. Samer Hema Hasona/Rodney Sturgis (FAMU) 6-1
SINGLES RESULTS
1) Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) def. Nourelidin Adam (FAMU) 6-2, 6-7, 10-5
2) Federico Nani (FAMU) def. Ezequiel Cerrini (FGCU) 5-7, 7-6, 10-3
3) Felipe Escobar (FGCU) def. Samer Hema Hasona (FAMU) 6-1, 6-2
4) Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) def. Luis Barres Espinoza 6-1, 6-3
5) Javier Fernandez (FGC) def. Lebelo Mosehle (FAMU) 7-6, 6-3
6) Austin Bates (FGCU) def. Rodney Sturgis (FAMU) 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1), Singles (6, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2)
 
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 76-61 (.552) 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.