GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the end of a hard-fought battle in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the FGCU men's tennis team (14-9) came out on the losing side of a 4-0 match against No. 3 Florida (22-3) at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex on Friday afternoon.

"I felt Florida played a great match today and they showed why they are the third-best team in the country," head coach CJ Weber said. "The doubles point was really important for us and we just couldn't quite get it. We fought hard, but couldn't get in position to get UF back on their heels at all. I was proud of the way we played overall, nonetheless. I love this team. They are great tennis players and even better young men. They have done a great job of representing themselves and FGCU in everything they do. I will miss all the good moments with them, both on and off the court."

After numerous weather delays, the match began at about 3:30 p.m., which was about three and a half hours later than its scheduled start time of noon.

Despite the delay, the Eagles came out aggressively and jumped out to early 2-0 leads on both the first and third courts. The Gators claimed their first victory of the afternoon with a 6-3 match at the second flight of doubles play. The duo of seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz held on to its lead through the first few points but eventually was defeated 6-4 by its Florida competitors.

At the time the Gators claimed their 1-0 lead, the match featuring FGCU juniors Feliksas Sakalauskas and Felipe Ramirez was tied up at 4-4.

Florida garnered some momentum after claiming the doubles point and won the first set on all six courts.

SEC Freshman of the year Sam Riffice, ranked No. 54 in the national standings, tacked on to the home team's edge with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) at the second court.

Escobar (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira/TCU) held on to No. 113 Johannes Ingildsen for the first few points on court three, but the Gator came out on top of a 6-4, 6-0 triumph that extended Florida's lead to 3-0.

Senior Javier Fernandez (Ibiza, Spain/IES CTEIB), who entered the NCAA Tournament on an 11-match winning streak, was defeated 6-1, 6-4 by No. 90 Duarte Vale at the sixth flight. Vale, coincidentally, also entered the match on an 11-match winning streak and grabbed the final point of the day for Florida with his win.

Tebet (Londrina, Brazil/Colégio Anglo Americano) posted the smallest margin of defeat for the Green and Blue, dropping the first set by a score of 7-6 on court four. Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Virginia Tech) was down 5-3 in the second set of the fourth flight and Montes (Pereira, Colombia) was duking it out with No. 9 Oliver Crawford at the time the match was clinched.  

FGCU is now 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament, having dropped two of those matches to the Gators. It was the Eagles' third postseason appearance since 2015.

2015 – L 4-0 at No. 16 UCLA
2017 – L 4-0 at No. 15 Florida
2019 – L 4-0 at No. 3 Florida

Results
Singles competition
1. #9 Oliver Crawford (UF) vs. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) 6-2, 5-1, unfinished
2. #54 Sam Riffice (UF) def. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) 6-1, 6-4
3. #113 Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) 6-4, 6-0
4. Alfredo Perez (UF) vs. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) 7-6 (7-4), 5-0, unfinished
5. #59 Andres Andrade (UF) vs. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) 6-4, 5-3, unfinished
6. #90 Duarte Vale (UF) def. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 6

Doubles competition
1. Johannes Ingildsen/McClain Kessler (UF) def. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) 6-4
2. Sam Riffice/Alfredo Perez (UF) def. TEBET, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) 6-3
3. Andres Andrade/Duarte Vale (UF) vs. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) 4-4, unfinished 
Order of finish: 2, 1

FGCU CAREER RECORDS
Overall wins
131 – Jordi Vives (2012-15)
111 – Tianyu Bao (2011-15)
98 – Javier Fernandez (2015-present)
97 – Dean Tsamas (2010-14)
85 – Oliver Landert (2015-18)

Overall singles wins
78 – Jordi Vives (2012-15)
71 – Javier Fernandez (2015-present)
64 – Tianyu Bao (2011-15)
59 – Dean Tsamas (2010-14)
42 – Andres Alfonzo (2014-17)
42 – Oliver Landert (2015-18)

Overall doubles wins
53 – Jordi Vives (2012-15)
47 – Mateo Ruiz (2016-present)
43 – Oliver Lander (2015-18)
41 – Dean Tsamas (2010-14)
40 – Andres Alfonzo (2014-17)

Conference singles wins
23 – Javier Fernandez (2015-present)
20 – Jordi Vives (2012-15)
19 – Tianyu Bao (2011-15)
18 – Dean Tsamas (2010-14)
15 – Michael Beiler (2011-15)

Conference doubles wins
17 – Tianyu Bao (2011-15)
15 – Dean Tsamas (2010-14)
14 – Jordi Vives (2012-15)
14 – Lance Lvovsky (2011-14)
11 – Matthew Rock (2009-12)
10 – Eduardo Alfonzo (2014-16)

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 32 ASUN All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his seventh year, Weber has compiled a 93-77 (.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 regular 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 returned to the mountaintop by claiming the 2019 regular season and tournament championships. Weber earned his third ASUN Coach of the Year honor and led the Green and Blue to their third trip to the NCAA Tournament. 

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 77 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 36 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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