Box Score FORT MYERS, Fla. – On a windy night in Fort Myers, the FGCU men's tennis team maintained its winning ways at home with a 4-3 win over William & Mary Thursday night. The Eagles (4-6) claimed the first four points to move to 4-0 at home this season before the Tribe (7-5) rattled off three-straight to end the match.

"I still feel like we can do better," said head coach CJ Weber. "We did really well in doubles and took care of business there. Oli (Landert) and Feli (Escobar) gave an unbelievable gift winning two quick matches over two really good opponents. They might have been quick matches, but those were two good wins. I feel like we could have closed out some of those matches better but, overall, I'm happy for the win. I want to make sure we can learn from the things we could have done better."

Leading 3-0 it appeared as though FGCU would coast to a comfortable victory but the visitors forced third sets on courts 1 and 6 to hold off any celebration for the time being. Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colégio Anglo Americano), who was declared eligible to play yesterday, forced a third set himself and provided the clinching match victory at No. 4 in his FGCU debut.

"I'm really proud of Marcelo and happy for him," Weber added. "He's been waiting for two months for this. His journey, for him to even get to the United States and get into school and then the frustration of trying to get his transcripts sent over, has been a long one. After two months of all the waiting, you find out and some players would respond with nerves or even freak out, but Marcelo is an extremely mature young man and I had no doubt he would play well. He responded well and he's very excited to be able to contribute."

Tebet's win came on the heels of a strong doubles showing and convincing victories by both Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) and Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU). Landert had claimed his match with relative ease – 6-0, 6-3 over Louis Newman at No. 3 – while Escobar finished shortly after with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Christian Cargill at No. 2.

Victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles set up the overall match victory. The pairing of Landert and Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) was the first off the courts, turning in a 6-2 victory at the top doubles position over Alec Miller and Brenden Volk. While Tebet and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) had come back and were on the verge of taking down Cargill and Newman, Escobar and Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) had secured the point with a 6-2 victory over Finbar Talcott and Lars de Boer.

With the match in hand, the Eagles had three remaining matches on the courts. Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB), who fought back from 3-0 down in the first to win 6-3, suffered a 6-3 defeat in the second before falling 6-4 in the third.

Ramirez, who won his first set 6-2 fell in a frustrating 6-2 second set and dropped his third 7-5. The final match witnessed Ruiz, who countered a 6-3 loss with a 6-2 victory, fall in a third set 6-3.

UP NEXT
The Eagles are back in action Tuesday at 5 p.m. against UAB.
 
FULL RESULTS
Doubles Results
1) Felipe Ramirez/Oliver Landert (FGCU) def. Alec Miller/Brenden Volk (WM) 6-2
2) Marcelo Tebet/Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) vs. Christian Cargill/Louis Newman (WM) 5-4 DNF
3) Austin Bates/Felipe Escobar (FGCU) def. Finbar Talcott/Lars de Boer (WM) 6-2
Singles Results
1) Alec Miller (WM) def. Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
2) Felipe Escobar (FGCU) def. Christan Cargill (WM) 6-1, 6-3
3) Oliver Landert (FGCU) def. Louis Newman (WM) 6-0, 6-3
4) Marcelo Tebet (FGCU) def. Finbar Talcott (WM) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
5) Lars de Boer (WM) def. Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
6) Sebastian Quiros (WM) def. Javier Fernandez (FGCU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3), Singles (3,2,4,6,1,5)

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 77-62 (.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.