FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team (5-5, 4-1 ASUN) will wrap up its regular season this weekend with a match against UNF (6-10, 2-3 ASUN) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 10 at the FGCU Tennis Complex. Head coach
CJ Weber and the rest of the Eagles will celebrate redshirt-seniors
Felipe Ramirez (Armenia, Colombia/Florida Virtual School) and
Feliksas Sakalauskas (Palanga, Lithuania/Vilniaus Zveryno Gimnazija/Virginia Tech) during a senior day ceremony that will be held in between doubles and singles play. The duo has helped FGCU capture two ASUN Championship crowns, a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament and one regular season title.
The seeding for the 2021 ASUN Men's Tennis Championship has yet to be fully determined, though the Eagles were able to lock up the ASUN South Division crown and the top seed for the postseason tournament with UNF's recent loss to Stetson.
The Eagles
FGCU is coming off a split week of ASUN play, having gone 1-1 against Kennesaw State and Stetson. The Eagles first dropped a close, 4-3 result at the hands of the Owls (April 2) before bouncing back the next day with a resounding, 5-2 victory over the Hatters (April 2). Redshirt-sophomore
Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) had strong performances throughout the weekend, extending his singles winning streak to six matches. Stefanacci is 5-0 against ASUN singles opponents this year and owns a dominant, 3-0 advantage at the sixth spot in the lineup.
Redshirt-freshman
Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) is also on a hot streak, having won his past four outings at the No. 1 singles spot. The transfer has a 7-3 advantage on the top court and is 5-1 against league opponents this season. Though the ITA did not publish updated rankings this week, he checked in at No. 65 on March 31.
Johnson is not the only representative of the Green & Blue receiving attention in the national polls as the duo of redshirt-freshman
Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville) and redshirt-sophomore
Pedro Maciel (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Goliath Academy) climbed as high as No. 44 in the ITA's doubles rankings.
FGCU entered the season as the reigning ASUN Champions, having captured both the regular season and tournament titles in 2019, as well as a trip to the NCAA Tournament. FGCU has won three tournament crowns and three regular-season titles under Weber's tenure.
The Ospreys
UNF is currently on a two-match skid, having dropped its recent outings against Stetson (4-3) and Kennesaw State (5-2). The Ospreys will look to regain their momentum, having won three of their past five matches.
Sophomore Dominik Barton has led the team during league play with a 4-1 mark in singles. He owns a team-best nine wins on the year (9-7) and has won six of his last 10 matches. His nine victories are followed by freshman Rodrigo Crespo, who has racked up seven (7-9).
In doubles, Barton has teamed up with Crespo and earned a 3-0 mark against ASUN opponents on the second court. Crespo previously played with junior teammate Nilo Duarte and the duo posted a 5-4 mark while playing primarily at the third spot in the lineup. The only other pair that has posted five wins is the team of junior Jorge Nunez and senior Federico Nani, who are 5-2.
History
Saturday's match will be the 19th in the history between the two teams, which favors UNF 11-7. FGCU has already defeated the Ospreys once this year, earning a 5-2 victory while on the road in Jacksonville. Overall, the Eagles have won three of the last five regular-season meetings against UNF.
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ASUN Roundup
South Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Overall |
| No. 1 FGCU |
4-1 |
5-5 |
| Kennesaw State |
2-2 |
6-10 |
| UNF |
2-3 |
6-10 |
| Stetson |
1-3 |
3-7 |
North Division Standings
| School |
ASUN |
Overall |
| No. 1 Liberty |
5-0 |
15-6 |
| Lipscomb |
3-2 |
7-6 |
| North Alabama |
2-3 |
4-12 |
| No. 4 Bellarmine |
0-5 |
3-18 |
Recent Results
Tuesday, April 6
No. 27 Memphis 7, North Alabama 0
Wednesday, April 7
Stetson 4, UNF 3
Upcoming Matches
Saturday, April 10
UNF at FGCU - 2 p.m.
Stetson at Kennesaw State - 3 p.m.
Bellarmine at No. 40 Liberty - 3 p.m.
Lipscomb at North Alabama - 3 p.m.
Sunday, April 11
Georgia Southern at Kennesaw State - 11 a.m.
UNF at UCF - 1 p.m.
Charlotte at Liberty - 3 p.m.
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 102-86 (.541) overall record and a 42-19 (.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.
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