JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In its 2021 ASUN Conference opener, the FGCU men's tennis team (2-4, 1-0 ASUN) picked up a 5-2 victory over UNF (3-8, 0-1 ASUN) on the Ospreys' home courts in Jacksonville. The win puts head coach CJ Weber on the cusp of reaching 100 throughout his 10-year career.

"UNF is always a battle," Weber said. "We won at some very key moments of the match that gave us a huge edge and we were thankfully able to capitalize on two very tough matches at the end from Felipe and Guglielmo. Felipe showed the champion that he is and I believe he really found himself in the match. Overall, it was a great team performance that the guys had and they had to be really tough in order to be successful. We will still work to get better and demand more out of ourselves. We have a big match tomorrow." 

FGCU kicked off the match by collecting the doubles point and took an early 1-0 lead. Though the Ospreys won on court two, the duo of seniors Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Vilniaus Zveryno Gimnazija/Virginia Tech) came back with a 6-3 result at the top spot to keep the team in it. Finally, redshirt-freshman Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) and sophomore Max Damm (Bradenton, Fla./Saint Stephens Episcopal School) tallied a 7-6, tiebreaker win on court three to secure the early point.

Redshirt-freshman Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville) kept the scoring going for the Green & Blue in singles play and quickly earned a 6-2, 6-3 triumph at court No. 4. Redshirt-junior Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia/Colegio Lujan) added to the team's lead with a straight-set win on the second court, but UNF was able to snap the team's scoring streak with a win at the top spot.

The Ospreys then made it close with a fifth-court victory that trimmed the Eagles' lead to 3-2, but redshirt-senior Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) secured a three-set win at the third spot and clinched the match. Redshirt-freshman Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) boosted FGCU to its final 5-2 triumph with his 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 result on court six.

The Eagles will remain on the road to take on Kennesaw State on Saturday, March 20 in a neutral site match at Stetson. The competition is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

Results
Singles competition
1. Dominik Barton (UNF-M) def. JOHNSON, Magnus (FGCU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
2. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. Nilo Duarte (UNF-M) 6-2, 6-2
3. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Matt Carroll (UNF-M) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-2
4. WILSON, Randy (FGCU) def. Rodrigo Crespo (UNF-M) 6-2, 6-3
5. Patrick Kotan (UNF-M) def. CONCA, Alessandro (FGCU) 6-4, 7-5
6. STEFANACCI, Gugli (FGCU) def. Joe Ellis (UNF-M) 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 2, 1, 5, 3, 6

Doubles competition
1. RAMIREZ, Felipe/SAKALAUSKAS, Feliks (FGCU) def. Dominik Barton/Matt Carroll (UNF-M) 6-3
2. Federico Nani/Jorge Nunez (UNF-M) def. MONTES, Juan/MACIEL, Pedro (FGCU) 6-2
3. JOHNSON, Magnus/DAMM, Max (FGCU) def. Rodrigo Crespo/Nilo Duarte (UNF-M) 7-6 (7-5)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings
1. FGCU (2-4, 1-0 ASUN)
2. Kennesaw State (4-8, 0-0 ASUN)
3. Stetson (2-4, 0-0 ASUN)
4. UNF (3-8, 0-1 ASUN)

North Division Standings
1. Liberty (10-5, 1-0 ASUN)
2. Lipscomb (4-4, 0-0 ASUN)
3. Bellarmine (2-8, 0-0 ASUN)
4. North Alabama (2-9, 0-1 ASUN)

Results - Saturday, March 19
Liberty 7, North Alabama 0
FGCU 5, UNF 2

Upcoming Matches
Saturday, March 20
Bellarmine at Lipscomb – 11:30 a.m.
FGCU vs Kennesaw State – 2 p.m.

Sunday, March 21
Bellarmine at North Alabama – 11 a.m.
Liberty at Lipscomb – 3 p.m.
 
For complete coverage of FGCU men's tennis, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_MTen and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU men's tennis or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

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 99-85 (.541) overall record and a 39-18 (.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 84 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 40 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.