FORT MYERS, Fla. – After starting the season with two wins at home this past weekend, the FGCU men's tennis team heads east for a pair of matches. The Eagles will battle Miami, Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. before going up to Boca Raton on Saturday to take on FAU at 1 p.m.

The Eagles will look to continue their strong start after defeating Binghamton and Troy to kick off the spring last week. They cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Bearcats before having to come from behind against Troy on Saturday for a 4-3 win.

Redshirt-sophomore Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) picked up a pair of straight-set wins at No. 1 singles and also paired with junior Max Damm (Bradenton, Fla./Saint Stephen's Episcopal School) at No. 1 doubles for two dominating wins as well, dropping just three games in the two matches. Damm and five other Eagles all collected at least one singles' win as well over the weekend.

FGCU picked up the doubles point in both matches not just because of Johnson and Damm but also because graduate student Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia/Colegio Lujan) and redshirt-sophomore Marcelo Sepulveda (Monterrey, Mexico/Penn Foster/Alabama) teamed up for two wins as well.

In the ASUN preseason poll, FGCU was picked second, just behind defending champion Liberty. Last year, the Eagles finished second in the ASUN and 65th in the final ITA rankings, the highest the program has ever been.

Nine players return from last year's squad, led by Johnson who went 9-3 at No. 1 last year and qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship. He also went 4-2 in singles action this past fall, including a win at the ITA All-American Championships.

Montes and redshirt-sophomores Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville) and Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) also all return for the Eagles after picking up a combined 21 wins between the three of them.

The only newcomer for the Green and Blue is Sepulveda, a transfer from Alabama, who will look to build on a strong fall season which saw him go 3-1 in singles while also picking up two doubles wins.

Miami is 2-0 on the year, also defeating Binghamton and Troy to begin the season. Dan Martin, ranked #121 in the ITA rankings leads the way for the Hurricanes in singles while the duo of Franco Aubone and Benjamin Hannestad is ranked #7 in the nation in doubles.

FAU enters the weekend with a 3-0 record after taking down Illinois State, Army, and DePaul at the Army Invite. The Owls have two players ranked in the ITA Top-125 as Carles Sarrio is ranked 103rd while Kevin Huempfner is 114th.
 
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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 103-87 (.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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.