FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (8-8, 3-0 ASUN) will head to North Alabama (2-13, 0-3 ASUN) to take on the Lions in a conference matchup on Thursday, April 4. The match is set for 9:30 a.m. EDT at the UNA Varsity Tennis Courts and will be the first meeting between the two teams. Originally, the match was scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT but it was moved up due to inclement weather. Live stats for the match can be found here.

The Eagles will then head to Nashville, Tennessee, to face off against Lipscomb (6-10, 1-2 ASUN) on Saturday, April 6. The match against the Bisons will begin at 5 p.m. at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center. It will be the 13th meeting in the series between the two teams, with FGCU currently holding a 9-3 edge.

"We've never played North Alabama before, so we're really excited to go to a new place and play a team we know almost nothing about," head coach CJ Weber said. "For Lipscomb, that is a place that we are very familiar with, so we're expecting an exciting weekend. Hopefully, we can continue to execute things we've been working on all year against both programs."

Last Time Out
•     The Eagles picked up their third-straight conference win at Stetson last Saturday, earning a 6-1 victory.
•     The Green and Blue secured the doubles point to take an early 1-0 advantage. Juniors Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) and 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 duo of seniors Felipe Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) and Mateo Ruiz (Bucaramagna, Colombia/Oklahoma State).
•     The Hatters claimed the first match of singles play with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the third flight, 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 and from there, FGCU cruised to victory.
•     Senior Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB), sophomore Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia), Sakalauskas and Ruiz all earned individual wins on their respective courts.

Scouting the Lions
•     UNA was on the losing end of a 4-0 shutout at Kennesaw State on March 30.
•     So far this season, the Lions have been blanked 10 times.
•     The team is 1-4 on its home courts and has yet to pick up a road win. The Lions did earn a 4-0 win over Mississippi Valley in a neutral-site match back in March.
•     Freshman Oscar Meslin and sophomore Cade Reasons lead the team with 3-9 records in singles play.
•     UNA is currently in its first season as an NCAA Division I member and is also in its first season in the ASUN.

Scouting the Bisons
•     Lipscomb will host NJIT on Thursday, April 4 before the matchup against FGCU.
•     The Bisons defeated North Alabama 6-1 back in March before dropping matches to Kennesaw State (5-2) and at Liberty (4-3).
•     In the series between the two teams, the Eagles have won seven straight matches and hold a 5-1 advantage at the FGCU Tennis Complex and a 4-2 edge at the Bisons' home courts.
•     The doubles team of juniors Pablo Caffarena and Victor Chaw is on a four-match winning streak and has posted a 10-3 record at the first flight.
•     Chaw and Caffarena are both 7-7 in singles play at courts one and two, respectively.

Up Next
The Green and Blue will return to the FGCU Tennis Complex for a match against Liberty (9-9, 3-0 ASUN) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 11. The Flames are new to the ASUN Conference this year and have already picked up wins against Kennesaw, North Alabama and Lipscomb. The match will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams; the Eagles claimed a 6-1 win over Liberty back in 2015 in Miami in a neutral-site match.

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 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.
 
-- FGCUATHLETICS.COM --