DELAND, Fla. – The No. 1 FGCU men's tennis team (13-8) cruised to a 4-0 victory over No. 4 Kennesaw State (10-13) in the 2019 ASUN Men's Tennis Championship Semifinals on Saturday morning at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

"I'm really happy and proud of this group," head coach CJ Weber said. "We had tough conditions yesterday that we overcame. And we had a long rain delay that we also overcame. We're really looking forward to playing UNF in the final. It's going to be a great battle and a lot of fun."

For the eighth match in a row, the Green and Blue got off to a great start by claiming the doubles point. The duo of juniors Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) and Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) earned a 6-2 triumph at the third court to get things going for the Eagles. Senior Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramagna, Colombia/Oklahoma State) secured the point for FGCU with a hard-fought 7-5 victory on court No. 1.

At the time the point was clinched, junior Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colégio Anglo Americano) and sophomore Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia) were ahead of their KSU competitors 6-5.

The match was originally scheduled for Friday afternoon. While it did start at its scheduled time, incoming rain caused play to be suspended after the doubles point was claimed and a few games into singles play. The match was resumed Saturday morning at 9 a.m. right where it left off. 

Senior Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB) was the first to finish in singles play, claiming his 10th-straight win with a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set triumph. Ramirez followed up with a 7-5, 6-2 win at the second flight to put the Eagles up 3-0.

Escobar grabbed the final point of the day for the Green and Blue when he defeated his Owl competitor 7-5, 6-2 on court No. 3. The win punched the Eagles' ticket to the 2019 ASUN Men's Tennis Championship Finals.

FGCU will face third-seeded UNF in tomorrow's championship. The Ospreys defeated No. 2 Liberty 4-3 in today's other semifinal.

This will be the third finals appearance for FGCU. The Eagles first appeared in the championship as the top seed in 2015 and claimed a 4-3 victory over No. 2 UNF. In 2017, the Green and Blue made it to the final as the fourth seed and defeated No. 6 Lipscomb 4-2.

The Ospreys have a 2-4 record in the ASUN Championship, including a 0-3 mark as the second seed. Last year, No. 1 UNF defeated No. 2 Stetson 4-1 to earn the 2018 ASUN Men's Tennis Championship title.

Results
Singles competition
1. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) vs. Fermin Calvo Barcelo (KSU) 6-7, 1-4, unfinished
2. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Bryan Triana (KSU) 7-5, 6-2
3. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) def. Lucas deTorres Curth (KSU) 7-5, 6-2
4. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) vs. Sebastian Osorio (KSU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-4, unfinished
5. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) vs. Gaston Muhammad (KSU) 3-6, 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
6. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. Jose Galvez (KSU) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 2, 3

Doubles competition
1. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Fermin Calvo Barcelo/Drew Lahey (KSU) 7-5
2. TEBET, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) vs. Harvey Maughan/Lucas deTorres Curth (KSU) 6-5, unfinished
3. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Bryan Triana/Jose Galvez (KSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1

Up Next
No. 1 FGCU will battle against No. 3 UNF for the 2019 ASUN Men's Tennis Championship title. The match is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 21 at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center and will be streamed on ESPN+. The winner earns the ASUN's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship tournament.

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 a 93-76 (.547) overall record and a 38-18 (.672) 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 a perfect ASUN season in both 2015 and 2016, finishing with conference titles as well as a Coach of the Year honor for Weber. FGCU again won the 2017 ASUN Championship and made its second NCAA appearance. The Eagles recently returned to the mountaintop by claiming the 2019 regular-season championship. 
 
#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 76 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 35 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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