JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In six prior appearances in the ASUN Tournament under head coach CJ Weber, the FGCU men's tennis team had reached the semifinals five times. In the early afternoon hours, the No. 3 Eagles made it six appearances in seven seasons behind a 4-1 victory over No. 6 NJIT in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Championships.

"I thought today was a good day for us," said head coach CJ Weber. "We took care of business in doubles and then in singles, we did what we've been trying to focus on. The conditions today were extremely tough, so you know you aren't going to play your best tennis. It came down to attitude and when it came down to it, we were tough today."

Doubles was never in question as the Eagles stormed out to strong leads on all three courts. With all three matches tied 1-1, Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida) and Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colégio Anglo Americano) took a commanding 4-1 lead. On the next court, Ezequiel Cerrini (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Homeschool) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) held the same advantage over Tomi Antoljak and Zac Castagna. The Eagle duo would go on to win 6-1.

Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) and Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) held off Richard Rangga and Aleksa Petrovic early, but with the match level at two games each, the No. 3 pairing won the next four games to clinch the doubles point with a 6-2. Landert and Tebet were leading 5-2 at that time.

Cerrini continued his impressive performance, cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 over Lukas Zvikas to put FGCU in front 2-0.

Landert quickly made it 3-0 behind his 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 2 over Jan Cimrman.

NJIT refused to go quietly, however. The Highlanders claimed a point at No. 4 when Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) dropped his match to Abdullah Fouad 6-4, 6-2.

After claiming his first set 6-4, Tebet was pushed to a tiebreak in his second set by Castagna but the Brazilian prevailed to clinch the match for FGCU 6-4, 7-6.

UP NEXT
FGCU advances to the semifinals to face No. 2 Stetson tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.

COMPLETE RESULTS
Doubles Results
1) Oliver Landert/Marcelo Tebet (FGCU) vs. Abdullah Fouad/Lukas Zvikas (NJIT) 5-2, DNF
2) Ezequiel Cerrini/Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) def. Tomi Antoljak/Zac Castagna (NJIT) 6-1
3) Austin Bates/Felipe Escobar (FGCU) def. Richard Rangga/Aleksa Petrovic (NJIT) 6-2
Singles Results
1) Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) vs. Tomi Antoljak (NJIT), 3-6, 6-1, 4-0, DNF
2) Oliver Landert (FGCU) def. Jan Cimrman (NJIT) 6-3, 6-2
3) Ezequiel Cerrini (FGCU) def. Lukas Zvikas (NJIT) 6-1, 6-1
4) Abdullh Fouad (NJIT) def. Javier Fernandez (FGCU) 6-4, 6-2
5) Marcelo Tebet (FGCU) vs. Zac Castagna (NJIT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
6) Austin Bates (FGCU) def. Richard Rangga (NJIT) 6-4, 5-4, DNF
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3), Singles (3,2,4,5)

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 83-67 (.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.
 
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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.