FORT MYERS, FL – The FGCU men's tennis team (3-4) nearly rallied back after doubles play as they suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Charlotte (4-7) Sunday afternoon at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"We knew it was going to be a war," head coach CJ Weber said. "Four of the six matches went to three sets today and those are the matches we're looking to get into in order to prepare us for the ASUN Championship. Today didn't go our way, we lost a really tough 4-3 match but overall these are the moments we're looking for as a program and we just need to learn from them."

FGCU claimed the first doubles match of the afternoon as the pairing of Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) and Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia/TCU) produced a 6-4 decision on court No. 2. Shortly after, Charlotte claimed a 7-5 win on the top court followed by a close 7-6 outcome on the final court.

The visitors took a 2-0 lead after taking a straight-set victory on court No. 4 but the Eagles responded with back-to-back wins. On court No. 2, Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) produced a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 result as Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colegio Anglo Americano) claimed a 6-4, 6-4 triumph to tie the match 2-2.

Court No. 3 was taken by the 49ers in three sets as the match was once again tied following a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 triumph by Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) on court No. 5. The premiere court featuring Montes went into a grueling three-set contest in which Charlotte's Luca Keist registered the final point of the match (7-5, 6-7, 6-2.)

Up Next
FGCU will travel to Orlando, FL., to face Penn State on March 6.

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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 86-72 (.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.