Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (2-3, 1-0 ASUN) picked up a 5-2 win over ASUN preseason favorite, UNF (4-4, 0-1 ASUN) Saturday evening at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"Tonight was a complete team effort!" head coach CJ Weber said. "UNF came out firing in doubles and I thought they outcompeted and outplayed us on the doubles courts. After losing the point, I was really happy about every single players' commitment to the match. This was the first time that has happened this year and I'm looking forward to it happening much more this season. I'm really pumped for the guys!"

The Eagles found themselves in a hole early on as they dropped the doubles point to the Ospreys. On the top court, the team of Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/TCU) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramanga, Colombia/Oklahoma State) match went unfinished at 5-4.  

The momentum began to swing in FGCU's favor, beginning on court No. 3 as Escobar collected a 6-4, 6-4 triumph. Shortly after, Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colegio Anglo Americano) gave the Green and Blue its first lead with a 6-4, 7-6 decision on court No. 6. Ahead now with a 2-1 advantage, FGCU's next point would come via Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) on court No. 2. The junior dominated his first set (6-2) and then put his counterpart away in a tough second set battle which ended in a 7-5 decision.

FGCU officially clinched the match on court No. 5, but it did not come easy. Senior Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) took his first set 7-6 and would then fall in the second set, 1-6. Unfazed, the Spain Native came away with a 6-4 third set triumph to give the Eagles the match and a 4-1 advantage.

Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) went on to tally the final point for FGCU (6-4, 3-6, 7-6) as UNF claimed its second point of the night on court No. 1.

"Our fans and the environment was incredible tonight," added Weber. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this program on nights like these. There's probably only a handful of teams in the country that get as good support as we do, so I was really thrilled to be able to gift our fans with such a big win."

Up next
The Eagles will remain at home to square off against Bethune-Cookman at 2 pm Friday, Feb. 22.

Singles Competition
1.  Sahil Deshmukh (UNF) def. Juan Montes 5-7, 6-0, 6-4
2. Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) def. Till Von Winning (UNF) 6-2, 7-5
3. Felipe Escobar (FGCU) def. Domink Barton (UNF) 6-4, 6-4
4. Feliksas Sakalauskas (FGCU) def. Jorge Nunez (UNF) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
5. Javier Fernandez (FGCU) def. Nilo Duarte (UNF) 7-6, 1-6, 6-4
6. Marcelo Tebet (FGCU) def. Federico Nani (UNF) 6-4, 7-6

Doubles Competition
1. Felipe Escobar/Mateo Ruiz vs Nilo Duarte/Til Von Winning (UNF) 5-4 unfinished
2. Sahil Deshmukh/ Domink Barton (UNF) def. Marcelo Tebet/Juan Montes 6-3
3. Federico Nani/Jorge Nunez (UNF) def. Feliksas Sakalauskas/ Felipe Ramirez 6-4

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 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 an 85-71 (.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.