ORLANDO, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team made a trip up to Orlando to take on #47 UCF, Friday afternoon where the Eagles fell to the Knights, 6-1. The Eagles drop to 6-4 on the season while UCF improves to 3-8.

"UCF has a really solid team that can compete with anyone in the country," said head coach CJ Weber. "We started slow in doubles, and that made it really tough on us to come back. Against a team like this, we need to be ready from the first point to even have a chance. We did pretty well at a few spots, but not well enough in others to keep the match tight enough. I'm really proud of Lopez for giving the Eagles a great win! It was a very disciplined match for him, not everything went his way, but he stayed fighting and got a very valuable win for himself and the team. We're looking forward to St John's tomorrow."

Redshirt-sophomore Juan Lopez (Gachancipa, Colombia/Colegio Virtual Siglio XXI) picked up the lone win for the Eagles, a 7-6 (1), 6-4 win on court six. With the win, Lopez improves to 2-3 in singles action this spring.

UCF jumped ahead in the match by winning the doubles point with victories on courts one and two.

In singles play, the Knights secured straight-set victories on courts two, three, four, and five to clinch the match. Redshirt-sophomore Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) won his first set on court one, 7-5, before dropping the second set, 3-6. In the 10-point tiebreaker, Trey Hildebrand, ranked #55 in the country, triumphed over Johnson, 10-6.

#47 UCF 6, FGCU 1
Singles Action
1.    #55 Trey Hilderbrand (UCF) def. JOHNSON, Magnus (FGCU) 5-7, 6-3, 10-6
2.    Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
3.    Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. SEPULVEDA, Marcelo (FGCU) 6-3, 6-1
4.    Alan Rubio (UCF) def. WILSON, Randy (FGCU) 6-1, 6-2
5.    JC Roddick (UCF) def. STEFANACCI, Gugli (FGCU) 6-2, 6-1
6.    LOPEZ, Juan (FGCU) def. Quinn Snyder (UCF) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4

Doubles Action
1.    #30 Lleyton Cronje/Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. DAMM, Max/JOHNSON, Magnus (FGCU) 6-2
2.    Trey Hilderbrand/Cooper White (UCF) def. ONCINS, Eric/WILSON, Randy (FGCU) 6-4
3.    JC Roddick/Quinn Snyder (UCF) vs. MONTES, Juan/SEPULVEDA, Marcelo (FGCU) 5-4, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,5,3,2,6,1)

The Eagles will return to action tomorrow evening when they host St. John's. First serve from the FGCU Tennis Complex is set for 5 p.m. It is also Country Club Day and the country club with the highest attendance will win a free clinic with the team.

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 109-82 (.572) 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. 

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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 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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.