ORLANDO, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (3-4, 2-0 ASUN) completed its conference-opening weekend with a 6-1 victory over Kennesaw State (4-9, 0-1 ASUN) on Saturday afternoon at the USTA National Campus. The match, which was originally slated to be played at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center in DeLand, was moved due to Friday night's rainfall. With the result, the Eagles earned their first neutral-site win of the 2021 season.

In addition to the excitement of opening up conference play with two wins in as many days, the Eagles' victory marks the 100th of head coach CJ Weber's career. Since joining the Green & Blue in 2011, Weber has coached 32 All-ASUN selections and led the Eagles to each of their three NCAA Tournament appearances (2015, '17, '19). He has been named the ASUN Coach of the Year three times and owns a 40-18 record against league opponents.

"Today was another battle," head coach CJ Weber said. "There were very unique conditions, not only with the weather but with the drive after the venue change. We did what we had to do to get the match in and I was very proud of my guys for committing to the entire match. Kennesaw came out really tough, especially in singles, but we were very resilient and finished the match strong. It was a team effort, but Juan (Montes) played the best tennis of the day. I'm very proud of him for being able to recover from his previous injury and play the way that he did."

For the second day in a row, the Eagles kicked off the match by securing the doubles point, this time doing so with back-to-back wins on the second and third courts. The duo of redshirt-junior Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia/Colegio Lujan) and redshirt-sophomore Pedro Maciel (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Goliath Academy) set things up with a 6-3 win at the second spot, while the pair of sophomore Max Damm (Bradenton, Fla./Saint Stephens Episcopal School) and redshirt-freshman Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) put the finishing touches on a 6-1, third-court victory to hand FGCU the early lead.

Johnson continued the scoring in singles play, earning a straight-set victory at the top spot to extend the Green & Blue lead to 2-0. The Owls responded by taking court three, but the point was the only one that the team was able to secure as the Eagles continued to pick up wins down the stretch.

Montes was the only other player to defeat his Kennesaw State competitor in straight sets, picking up a 6-4, 6-3 on court No. 2. Freshman Alessandro Conca (Milan, Italy/ISMC Milano), redshirt-freshman Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) and redshirt-senior Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Vilniaus Zveryno Gimnazija/Virginia Tech) all earned third-set triumphs on the fourth, fifth and sixth courts, respectively.

With the wins, the Eagles have emerged as the leaders of the ASUN South Divisional standings. The team's next match will be back at the FGCU Tennis Complex on Saturday, March 27 against Stetson at 1 p.m.

Results
Singles competition
1. Magnus Johnson (FGCU) def. Sebastian Osorio (KSUM) 6-2, 6-4
2. Juan Montes (FGCU) def. Sergio Ingles (KSUM) 6-4, 6-3
3. Raul Garcia (KSUM) def. Randy Wilson (FGCU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Alessandro Conca (FGCU) def. Kevin Patel (KSUM) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
5. Gugli Stefanacci (FGCU) def. Seru Tezuka (KSUM) 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
6. Feliksas Sakalauskas (FGCU) def. Harvey Conway (KSUM) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
Order of finish: (1, 3, 2, 5, 6, 4)

Doubles competition
1. Sergio Ingles/Seru Tezuka (KSUM) vs. Felipe Ramirez/Feliks Sakalauskas (FGCU) 5-3, unfinished
2. Juan Montes/Pedro Maciel (FGCU) def. Harvey Conway/Raul Garcia (KSUM) 6-3
3. Max Damm/Magnus Johnson (FGCU) def. Kevin Patel/Sebastian Osorio (KSUM) 6-1
Order of finish: (2, 3)

ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings
1. FGCU (3-4, 2-0 ASUN)
2. Stetson (2-4, 0-0 ASUN)
3. Kennesaw State (4-9, 0-1 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
Friday, March 19
Liberty 7, North Alabama 0
FGCU 5, UNF 2

Saturday, March 20
FGCU 6, Kennesaw State 1

Upcoming Matches
Sunday, March 21
Bellarmine at North Alabama – 11 a.m.
Liberty at Lipscomb – 3 p.m.
 
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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 100-85 (.541) overall record and a 40-18 (.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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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.