DELAND, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (8-8, 3-0 ASUN) earned a 6-1 conference victory at Stetson (9-9, 1-2 ASUN) on Saturday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

"We have been playing like a real team lately, and today was one of our better efforts," head coach CJ Weber said. "Stetson, I felt, fought an unbelievable match and made it very difficult on us. But the guys responded so well and were really disciplined all throughout the match. I'm very proud of this group and I already can't wait to watch us compete next week."

For the third match in a row, the Eagles earned an early lead by claiming the doubles point. The duo of junior Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) and junior Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) claimed a 6-2 victory on the third court and were followed up by a 6-4 triumph at the first court via the team of senior Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and senior Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramagna, Colombia/Oklahoma State).

The Hatters evened things up at 1-1 with a straight-set victory at the third flight in singles play, but it was their only point of the afternoon.

Escobar regained the Green and Blue's lead with a 6-2, 7-5 win on court No. 2. From there, the Eagles cruised to their victory. Ruiz earned a win at court six after finishing the third set 6-2. Senior Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) won the fifth flight, marking his fifth victory in a row. Sophomore Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia) and Sakalauskas finished up the scoring with third-set wins at the first and fourth courts, respectively.

The last time the Eagles started off 3-0 in conference play was during the 2015-16 season. That year, the Green and Blue went undefeated in the regular conference season.

Results
Singles competition
1. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. Louis Gorregues (STET) 7-5, 6-7, 1-0
2. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) def. Clement Hamel (STET) 6-2, 7-5
3. Antoine Sanchez (STET) def. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) 6-3, 6-2
4. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. Tim Gennes (STET) 7-5, 6-7, 6-2
5. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. Coilin MacNamara (STET) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
6. RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Christian Mills (STET) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 6, 5, 1, 4

Doubles competition
1. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Tim Gennes/Linus Bergevi (STET) 6-4
2. MONTES, Juan/TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) def. Coilin MacNamara/Clement Hamel (STET) 5-4
3. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Antoine Sanchez/Dennis Moses (STET) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1

Up Next
FGCU will continue its conference road swing with a match at North Alabama (2-12, 0-2 ASUN) next Tuesday, April 4. The Green and Blue will face off against the Lions at 2 p.m. at the UNA Tennis Complex. The matchup will be the first in program history between the two teams. UNA is currently in its first season as an NCAA Division I member and is also in its first season in the ASUN.

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 89-76 (.539) overall record and a 34-18 (.653) 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. 
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year 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 75 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 34 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 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the Spring, 2018 and had an ASUN Conference and State of Florida best five teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport.  The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours – being recognized as one of two runner-ups for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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