FORT MYERS, Fla. – After suffering its first home loss in five matches, the FGCU men's tennis team looks to bounce back with a pair of home contests beginning Friday. The Eagles (4-7) welcome both Grand Canyon and Illinois State to The Nest.
FGCU's meeting with the Lopes is slated to begin Friday at 5 p.m. while the Green and Blue meet the Redbirds Saturday with the same start time. All matches at the FGCU Tennis Complex remain free, though fans are encouraged to bring their own seating as bleacher space is limited.
WEEKLY HONORS
For the third time this season, an Eagle was been honored by the ASUN Conference, the latest being
Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida). The Naples-native went 3-1 last week to secure the latest award for FGCU. Earlier this season,
Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and
Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU).
DEFENDING THE NEST
FGCU's success at home has been a vital aspect of the program's success under head coach
CJ Weber. Since the 2012-13 season, Weber's second in Southwest Florida, the Eagles are 40-19 at the FGCU Tennis Complex. During that stretch, the Green and Blue have posted winning records in all but one of those seasons, including a 7-1 record in 2014-15 and a 9-0 mark in 2015-16.
This season, the Eagles are 4-0 at home. FGCU finishes with seven of the final nine matches at home.
SCOUTING THE LOPES
At 10-4, Grand Canyon is off to another great start. Ineligible for the postseason last year, the Lopes finished 15-10 and 4-1 in the WAC. Grand Canyon has dominated at positions No. 3 and No. 5. Valentin Lang has produced a 7-3 at No. 3 while four Lopes have winning records at No. 5.
In doubles, Mathieu Rajaonah and Lorenzo Fucile have a 5-2 record at No. 1 to lead the way.
FGCU and Grand Canyon will meet for the first time Friday.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State enters with a 9-4 record and winners of three of the last four. Both Christopher Greve and Igor Kolaric have matching 4-2 records at No. 1 and identical 5-1 records at No. 2. Meanwhile, Andreas Boers is 6-6 at No. 3.
In doubles, Boers and Pol Rius Botifoll are 8-2 at No. 2 to lead the way.
FGCU and Illinois State meet for the first time Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
FGCU suffered its first home loss of the 2018 campaign, falling to UAB 4-3 Tuesday night. FGCU won the doubles point but suffered four-straight losses in singles to the Blazers.
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.
