| FGCU Men's Tennis |
| ASUN Semifinal |
No. 2N Lipscomb (9-6) vs No. 1S FGCU (7-5) |
| Date // Time |
Friday, April 23 // 11:30 a.m. |
| Location |
UNF Tennis Complex // Jacksonville, Fla. |
| Live Stats |
SideArm |
| Twitter |
@FGCU_MTen |
| Instagram |
FGCU Men's Tennis |
| Facebook |
FGCU Men's Tennis |
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The top-seeded FGCU men's tennis team (7-5) will play against No. 2N Lipscomb (9-6) in the semifinals of the 2021 ASUN Men's Tennis Championship at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, April 23 at the UNF Tennis Complex. The Eagles entered the postseason as the No. 1S seed after capturing the South Division Crown with a 5-1 mark in conference play.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 1N Liberty will face off against No. 3S Kennesaw State at 9 a.m. The semifinal winners will advance to the ASUN Championship on Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m., which will be streamed on ESPN+. Each of the Final Four matches are being hosted by UNF on their home courts in Jacksonville. For more information regarding the AUSN Men's Tennis Championship, click
here.
In addition to the excitement of the postseason tournament, the Eagles' week has been highlighted by their continued representation in the ITA Men's Tennis rankings. Redshirt-freshman
Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) checks in at No. 71 in singles, while the duo of redshirt-sophomore
Pedro Maciel (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Goliath Academy) and redshirt-freshman
Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville) is ranked 64th in doubles. Both Johnson and the Green & Blue pair have been named every week since the initial 2021 list was put out on March 24.
The Eagles
FGCU is coming off a thrilling, 4-3 quarterfinal victory over No. 4 UNF. The match, which was played at the FGCU Tennis Complex, saw the Eagles battle back after trailing by as much as 3-0. Johnson clinched the match for the Green & Blue with his three-set win at the top singles spot.
After dropping the doubles point, the Eagles picked up crucial singles results from redshirt-senior
Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School), redshirt-junior
Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia/Colegio Lujan) and redshirt-freshman
Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) to knot the overall score up at 3-3. Both Ramirez and Montes defeated their opponents in straight-sets, while Stefanacci required three to take down UNF's Jorge Nunez.
With his win, Johnson improved his season record in singles play to 9-3. He finished his first ASUN campaign with a 5-1 mark against league opponents and finished the regular season 1-1 against nationally-ranked opponents.
The Bisons
Lipscomb swept No. 3N North Alabama 4-0 in its ASUN Quarterfinal match last Friday. The Bisons secured the doubles point and quickly picked up a trio of straight-set victories in singles play to defeat the Lions. The result in doubles play marked the 10th time this season that the team has locked up the early point, including the fifth against ASUN opponents.
Graduate student Pablo Caffarena leads the team as a returning Second Team All-ASUN honoree from the 2019 season. He and former teammate Victor Chaw were selected as the ASUN Doubles Pair of the Year at the end of that campaign and Caffarena additionally landed a spot on the All-Academic Team. This year, he owns a 5-1 mark in league singles play, which includes a split record against Liberty's Nucaise Muamba, who is currently ranked No. 94 in the ITA singles standings.
Friday's match marks the third appearance in the final four for Lipscomb and its first since a run to the title match in 2017.
History
FGCU has a 10-3 all-time advantage over the Bisons and has not lost to the team since 2012. The sides have only faced off once before during the postseason, with the Eagles earning a 4-2 victory No. 6 Lipscomb in the 2017 ASUN Tennis Championship.
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 103-86 (.541) overall record and a 43-19 (.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 85 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. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. 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.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--
