Box Score FORT MYERS, Fla. – After a thrilling doubles portion put the FGCU men's tennis team in front, the Eagles stumbled in singles falling for the first time at home 4-3 to UAB. The Green and Blue (4-7) overcame an early deficit in doubles only for the Blazers (8-6) to bounce back and win four-straight singles matches to claim victory.

"We played with unbelievable commitment in doubles today," said head coach CJ Weber. "That was an important doubles point even though we weren't playing our best. But UAB took the match from us in singles. We need to figure out how that happened and never let it happen again. The next two days will be very important for this team."

Trailing early on two of the three doubles courts, FGCU forced an early momentum shift by claiming the doubles point. After Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) and Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colégio Anglo Americano) fell 6-1 at No. 1, Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) held off Anru Fourie and Kenton Parton for a 7-5 win on Court 3.

It was at that time Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State), who trailed from the start, overturned a 4-5 deficit to tie the match at 6-6. On match point for FGCU, Henry Paiste and Nikolai Manchev thought they forced deuce only for the call to be overturned, completing the comeback for Cerrini and Ruiz.

Unfortunately, for the Eagles, the momentum was short-lived. Ramirez and Cerrini were the first off the courts at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively both falling in straight sets. Trailing 2-1, Tebet also dropped his match at No. 4. Ramirez suffered a 6-3, 6-0 defeat to Dollman while Cerrini suffered a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, on Court 4, Tebet suffered a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Parton.

Ruiz nearly completed a comeback in his first set, but fell in the tiebreaker, 6-7 and followed with a 3-6 loss in the second set.

FGCU's two singles victories came thanks to Landert and Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB). Landert secured a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 win at No. 3 after Fernandez won 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 6.

UP NEXT
FGCU hosts two matches this weekend. First up is a Friday night contest against Grand Canyon before facing Illinois State Saturday night.

COMPLETE RESULTS
Doubles Results
1) Tim Dollman/Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) def. Oliver Landert/Marcelo Tebet (FGCU) 6-1
2) Ezequiel Cerrini/Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) def. Henry Paiste/Nikolai Machev (UAB) 7-6
3) Felipe Ramirez/Austin Bates (FGCU) def. Anru Fourie/Kenton Parton (UAB) 7-5
Singles Results
1) Tim Dollman (UAB) def. Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) 6-3, 6-0
2) Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) def. Ezequiel Cerrini (FGCU) 6-3, 6-1
3) Oliver Landert (FGCU) def. Anu Fourie (UAB) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8
4) Kenton Parton (UAB) def. Marcelo Tebet (FGCU) 6-4, 6-3
5) Giovani Pasini (UAB) def. Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) 6-7, 3-6
6) Javier Fernandez (FGCU) def. Tom el Safadi (UAB) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3,2), Singles (1,2,4,5,3,6)

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 77-63 (.552) overall record and a 29-15 (.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.