FORT MYERS, Fla. – After clinching the early doubles point, the FGCU men's tennis team (3-3) cruised to a 5-2 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons (2-4) on Friday night at the FGCU Tennis Complex. The Eagles never trailed as they picked up their second home win of the season.

"Today was the first time we played DePaul since I've been here and since I grew up in Illinois, it was nice to get a win over them," head coach CJ Weber said. "They're a great program in the Big East and it's always fun to play new teams. However, like always, we weren't really focused on our opponent heading into today. I think the team continued our steps in the right direction of positivity and support of each other. I really feel like compared to two weeks ago, I'm watching a completely different team. I'm really proud of the guys and the effort that they're putting in right now. We have a lot of work to do still but today was a step in the right direction."

Doubles play moved quickly, as the team picked up wins on the top two courts to open up the competition. The duo of seniors Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia) and Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania) were the first to down their opponents, finishing with a 6-2 triumph at the top flight. Senior Marcelo Tebet (Londrina, Brazil) and junior Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia) followed it up with a victory by the same score on court two.

Montes carried his winning momentum into singles play, where he quickly finished off DePaul's Tamas Zador 6-1, 6-2 on court No. 1 to put the home team up 2-0. Moments later, Sakalauskas came away with a straight-set decision on court four to put the team on the verge of clinching.

It was Ramirez who secured the match for the Eagles, as his 6-4, 6-0 triumph on court one put FGCU on top 4-0. With the result, Ramirez now stands at 4-1 on the season at No. 1 singles and is on a three-match winning streak.

Though he trailed early in the second set, freshman Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy) hung in and eventually defeated Christopher Casati 6-3, 6-4 at the fifth flight. The singles win was his first as an Eagle.

After falling in the opening frame, sophomore Pedro Maciel (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) bounced back and forced his DePaul competitor into three sets on court six. Though he and Luuk Wassenaar traded points back-and-forth, it was ultimately the Blue Demon that came away with a 10-8 win in the final set to put the team on the board.

DePaul also grabbed the final point of the night, earning another 10-8 tiebreaker in the third set on court three, to set the final score at 5-2.

With the win, FGCU now owns a 2-2 advantage at the Nest this season. Over the last three years, the Eagles have earned a 17-11 edge over opponents on their home courts at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
  
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Results
Singles competition
1. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. TONEJC, Vito (DU) 6-4, 6-0
2. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. ZADOR, Tamas (DU) 6-1, 6-2
3. SPANJAARD, Boris (DU) def. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 10-8
4. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. TUFF, Tripp (DU) 6-3, 6-2
5. STEFANACCI,Guglielmo (FGCU) def. CASATI, Christopher (DU) 6-3, 6-4
6. WASSENAAR, Luuk (DU) def. MACIEL, Pedro (FGCU) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
Order of finish: (2,4,1,5,6,3)

Doubles competition
1. RAMIREZ, Felipe/SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. SPANJAARD, Boris/CASATI, Christopher (DU) 6-2
2. TEBET, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. WASSENAAR, Luuk/TUFF, Tripp (DU) 6-2
3. BRADFORD, Carter/STEFANACCI,Guglielmo (FGCU) vs. TONEJC, Vito/TONEJC, Fran (DU) 4-3, unfinished
Order of finish: (1, 2)

CJ WEBER
FGCU is led by three-time ASUN Coach of the Year 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 96-80 (.545) 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. 

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IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
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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 80 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just eight 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 sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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