FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (4-7) fell 4-0 to UNC Asheville (13-2) after narrowly missing the doubles point Wednesday afternoon at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

The pair of Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia) and Pedro Maciel (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Goliath Academy) won the first doubles match of the day, claiming a 6-3 victory on court No. 3. UNCA responded with a win of its own at court No. 1, defeating Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramagna, Colombia/Oklahoma State) (6-3).

With each team earning one win, the doubles point was left to be decided at the second flight. Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colégio Anglo Americano) and Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) battled back-and-forth against their Bulldog competitors until the very end. UNCA eventually earned the doubles point with a tie-breaker win that gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.

From there, the Bulldogs never looked back. Leo Bierbaum defeated Maciel in a straight-set victory on court No. 6 (6-2, 6-3). At court No. 3, Sirawit Daosaengsawang bested Sakalauskas in two sets (6-2, 6-3). The Bulldogs clinched their winning point with a victory at court No. 1 when Henry Patten beat Montes.

The match was called when UNC Asheville took command of its 4-0 lead. At that time, there were still three singles matches in play. Escobar won the first set 7-5 against Nolan Oli and was leading the second 4-3 at court No. 2. On court No. 4, Tebet responded with a 6-0 loss after losing the first set 6-3 to Charlie Morkel and was leading the third 2-1. Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) defeated Olly Cull 6-2 in the first set and was tied at 4-4 in the second on court No. 5.

"UNC Asheville was more ready to play than we were, and they got the win because of that," head coach CJ Weber said. "We need to figure out a way to never allow this to happen again, and too just keep pressing on. We have another tough one tomorrow."

Results
Singles competition
1. PATTEN, Henry (AVLM) def. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) 6-3, 6-4
2. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) vs. NOLAN, Oli (AVLM) 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
3. DAOSAENGSAWANG, S. (AVLM) def. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) 6-2, 6-3
4. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) vs. MORKEL, Charlie (AVLM) 3-6, 6-0, 2-1, unfinished
5. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) vs. CULL, Olly (AVLM) 6-2, 4-4, unfinished
6. BIERBAUM, Leo (AVLM) def. MACIEL, Pedro (FGCU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. PATTEN, Henry/CULL, Olly (AVLM) def. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) 6-3
2. NOLAN, Oli/DAOSAENGSAWANG, S. (AVLM) def. TEBET, Marcelo/SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. MONTES, Juan/MACIEL, Pedro (FGCU) def. FENDER, Quinn/MORKEL, Charlie (AVLM) 6-3

Up Next 
FGCU will be back in action tomorrow night to take on the UNC Wilmington Seahawks (6-7). The teams will face off at 5 p.m. at the FGCU Tennis Complex. The Seahawks are coming off a 5-1 loss Tuesday night at No. 43 Miami.

FOLLOW ALONG
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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 86-75 (.534) overall record and a 32-18 (.640) 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.