FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (0-2) will be in action at home this weekend, as the Eagles have picked up a match against No. 9 Texas A&M (2-1) that will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the FGCU Tennis Complex. Fans will be allowed to attend, at a limited capacity, and are encouraged to bring their own foldable chairs or other forms of outdoor seating. All attendees must wear masks at all times and will be required to adhere to CDC guidelines.
FGCU is in search of its first win of the season, having dropped a pair of matches to FAU (2-5) and USF (2-5). Redshirt-freshman
Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) has led the team in both outings, picking up back-to-back wins at the top singles flight. Most recently, he downed his USF opponent in straight sets.
During the match against the Bulls, the Eagles were able to claim the doubles point for just the second time in the shared history between the programs. That effort was led Johnson and his doubles partner, redshirt-sophomore
Max Damm (Bradenton, Fla./Saint Stephens Episcopal School), as well as the duo of redshirt-sophomore
Pedro Maciel (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Goliath Academy) and redshirt-freshman
Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville). Johnson and Damm kicked off the scoring with a 6-4 victory on the third court, and the point was finally earned when Maciel and Wilson defeated the 21
st-ranked team of Wojcik/Bolllipalli on court No. 1.
The Aggies, who have been ranked No. 9 in the nation for the past three weeks, are coming off of their first loss of the season after dropping a 1-4 result at No. 4 Baylor. Prior to the match against the Bears, Texas A&M had opened up its slate with back-to-back wins over No. 14 Ole Miss (4-3) and No. 21 Pepperdine (4-0).
A consistently strong SEC team, Texas A&M has had tremendous success in the postseason over the past few seasons, going as far as the Elite Eight in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Aggies have won a pair of SEC Tournament Championships since 2014 (2014, 2017) and as many regular-season titles (2015, 2018).
Sunday's match will mark the first time that the Eagles have welcomed a ranked opponent to the Nest since hosting No. 46 Princeton in 2018. The visiting Tigers barely eked out a 4-3 win over a Green & Blue team that fought until the last point. Current assistant coach
Marcelo Tebet was part of an FGCU duo that defeated its Princeton opponents in doubles play, earning the Eagles their crucial point.
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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 97-84 (.541) 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.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
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!
#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 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just nine 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 3.43 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 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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