GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team closed out a strong weekend at the ITA Regionals, hosted by the Florida Gators at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. Seniors Felipe Ramirez and Feliksas Sakalauskas advanced the furthest for the Eagles, earning their way to Monday's semi-final round of doubles play in the competition that featured the best-of-the-best in the Southeast Region.

"Felipe and Feliksas are playing some of the best doubles that I've ever seen," head coach CJ Weber said. "They have improved tremendously since last spring and I couldn't be more excited about their development. They played lights-out the first four rounds and it took a very smart USF team to take them out in a very dramatic match."

In addition to their strong performance in doubles play, Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) and Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) had great showings in singles. On the opening day of the tournament, Sakalauskas battled in the qualifying bracket and picked up back-to-back, three-set wins to earn a spot in the main draw singles.

"What most people don't know about Feliksas before this tournament is that he could barely walk just two days before the tournament started," Weber said. "He took a nasty fall and wasn't even sure if he was going to be able to play. He is one of the toughest kids I know and for him to play the way he did under those conditions was mind-blowing."

Ramirez, who had received a spot in the main draw singles bracket heading into the tournament, defeated third-seeded Bojan Jankulovski on Friday afternoon to open his singles run. Ramirez' defeat over Jankulovski, a junior for Miami, marked the first time a member of the FGCU men's tennis team had defeated a top-three seed at the ITA Regional.

"Felipe probably had the best overall performance in the history of FGCU men's tennis, singles and doubles play combined," Weber said. "He made the round of 16 and the semifinal round of doubles in the same tournament, which is incredibly hard to do. More importantly than the results, he's playing with a lot of attitude and he has the mentality of a champion."

Senior Marcelo Tebet, sophomore Carter Bradford and freshman Gulgielmo Stefanacci also competed in qualifying rounds of singles play, but were sent into the consolation bracket. Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) was able to bounce back and earned a three-set victory over UNF's Patrick Kotan in his consolation match.

Ramirez and Sakalauskas began doubles play on the second day of the tournament. The pair defeated FSU's Puorroy/Wood and USF's Ferguson Luquet in the rounds of 64 and 32, respectively, to advance onward. In the round of 16, the duo faced off against Georgia Tech's McDaniel/Schelcher 16 and knocked off the pair by a score of 8-3.

In the quarterfinal, Ramirez and Sakalauskas took the court against UCF's Alencar and Rubio and dominated the pair, handing the Knights an 8-2 loss. The win punched the Eagles' ticket to the semifinal round, which was played Monday morning. The FGCU pair battled back after losing the first set to USF's Bollipalli/Wojcik, but ultimately fell to the Bulls in the third set.

Bradford (Wesley Chapel, Fla./George Mason) and Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colegio Anglo Americano) also represented the Green and Blue in doubles play, but dropped their opening match to Kennesaw State's Maughan/Patel.

Up Next
The Eagles will be back in action Nov. 1-3, as the team is set to host the Finemark FGCU Collegiate Open at the Bonita Bay Club. The University of Memphis, Purdue, Louisville, Minnesota and UConn will all head down to Bonita Springs, Fla. to compete in the tournament. For more information, fans can head here.

FOLLOW ALONG
For complete coverage of FGCU men's tennis follow us on Twitter & Instagram @FGCU_MTEN and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of the competition.

CJ WEBER
FGCU is led by three-time ASUN Coach of the Year CJ Weber, who has coached 32 ASUN All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his seventh year, Weber has compiled a 93-77 (.547) overall record and a 38-18 (.672) 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 a perfect ASUN regular season in both 2015 and 2016, finishing with conference titles as well as a Coach of the Year honor for Weber. FGCU again won the 2017 ASUN Championship and made its second NCAA appearance. The Eagles returned to the mountaintop by claiming the 2019 regular season and tournament championships. Weber earned his third ASUN Coach of the Year honor and led the Green and Blue to their third trip to the NCAA Tournament. 

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 79 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just eight seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--