FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (7-8, 2-0 ASUN) earned a 4-3 victory over Brown (7-6, 0-0 IVY) at the end of a back-and-forth battle Thursday night at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"These guys have been through a lot so far this season and we have played a really tough schedule," head coach CJ Weber said. "We've played a lot of 4-3 matches, but that's the type of things that we're looking for in our non-conference schedule. We're now prepared for anything in conference. I think a win like this does a great thing for the team heading into conference play."

The duo of Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) and Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) finished its doubles match on court No. 2 with a 6-3 victory, leaving the point to be decided by the first and third courts. Both courts went back-and-forth until Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramagna, Colombia/Oklahoma State) defeated the No. 78 duo of Roger Chau and Charles Tan 7-5. The win marked the Eagles' first over a ranked opponent in doubles play this season.

At the time the Eagles clinched the doubles point, Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colégio Anglo Americano) and Pedro Maciel (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Goliath Academy) were leading their Brown competitors 6-5.

Soon after singles play began, Ramirez was forced to retire at the first court and the Bears picked up their first point of the match to even things up at 1-1.

Brown took its first lead of the afternoon with a 6-1, 6-0 straight set victory over Escobar on the second flight. Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) picked up his fourth-straight win with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph at the fifth flight that tied things up at 2-2.

The Bears took their second lead of the night with a straight-set victory at the sixth court. Tebet responded for the Eagles with a 7-5, 6-2 win that tied things up at 3-3.

With things knotted up, the fate of the match came down to Sakalauskas and his Brown competitor on court five. After dropping the second set, Sakaulaskas dominated the third to reward FGCU with its final 4-3 triumph over the Bears.

Results
Singles competition
1. Peter Litsky (BROWN) def. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) 0-1, retired
2. Ching Lam (BROWN) def. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) 6-4, 6-0
3. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) def. Roger Chou (BROWN) 7-5, 6-2
4. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. Jacob Walker (BROWN) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
5. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. Charles Tan (BROWN) 6-1, 7-5
6. Robert Siniakowicz (BROWN) def. RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) 6-4, 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 6, 3
 
Doubles competition
1. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. #78 Roger Chou/Charles Tan (BROWN) 7-5
2. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Ching Lam/Jacob Walker (BROWN) 6-3
3. TEBET, Marcelo/MACIEL, Pedro (FGCU) vs. Peter Litsky/Ben Collier (BROWN) 6-5, unfinished
Order of finish: 2, 1

Up Next
The Eagles will head to Stetson this Saturday, March 30 to start off a three-match road swing. The match against the Hatters is set for 2 p.m. at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. Stetson currently holds a 10-5 advantage in the history between the two schools.

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 88-76 (.536) overall record and a 33-18 (.647) 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 appearance in program history.