ORLANDO, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team kicked off its fall season on Friday at UCF Sizzler with redshirt-junior Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) picking up a singles win for the Eagles while three doubles teams collected victories.

"Overall, today was a good first day," said head coach CJ Weber. "We had many opportunities to compete and get better, and we got to see where our starting point is this year. We have a long journey ahead of us and right now, I just want the guys to enjoy each moment."

With the Eagles' three returning All-ASUN players not in action on day one of singles, Stefanacci picked up the lone win of the day for the Green and Blue, taking down Valentin Dun of Georgia Southern, 6-2, 6-1. He will now advance to take on the #1 seed in the Red draw, Bogdan Pavel of UCF, tomorrow.

In other singles action, junior Eric Oncins (Orlando, Fla./Montverde Academy) fell to Cole Burnham of Furman, 6-4, 6-2, in the Red singles draw while redshirt-junior Juan Lopez (Gachancipa, Colombia/Colegio Virtual Siglio XXI) fell 6-3, 6-3 to Sam Paquette of Cornell in the Green draw.

In the Blue singles draw, senior Max Damm (Bradenton, Fla./Saint Stephen's Episcopal School) fell 6-2, 6-3 to Thomas Kennedy of Furman while senior Carter Bradford (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Saddlebrook Preparatory School/George Mason) dropped his match, 6-2, 6-4, to Sven Thiergard of Stetson.

In doubles, top-seeded redshirt-junior Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) and Damm received a bye into the second round of the Ice draw before proceeding to defeat Alexandre Hillhouse and Sami Ozzor of Stetson, 6-4.

The other two doubles pairs in the Ice draw for the Eagles dropped their first match but bounced back to finish the day with a win as redshirt-junior Marcelo Sepulveda (Monterrey, Mexico/Penn Foster/Alabama) and Stefanacci defeated Thomas Kennedy and Emil Westling of Furman, 6-2, while Oncins and redshirt-junior Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville) won 7-6 (1) over Connor Laymon and Ben Cahill of Furman.
 
Friday Results
Singles
Stefanacci (FGCU) def. Dun (GSU) 6-2, 6-1 (Red)
Burnham (Furman) def. Oncins (FGCU) 6-4, 6-2 (Red)
Paquette (Cornell) def. Lopez (FGCU) 6-3, 6-3 (Green)
Kennedy (Furman) def. Damm (FGCU) 6-2, 6-3 (Blue)
Thiergard (Stetson) def. Bradford (FGCU) 6-2, 6-4 (Blue)
 
Doubles
Johnson/Damm (FGCU) def. Hillhouse/Ozzor (Stetson), 6-4 (Ice)
Garcia/Conway (KSU) def. Stefanacci/Sepulveda (FGCU) 7-5 (Ice)
Stefanacci/Sepulveda (FGCU) def. Kennedy/Westling (Furman) 6-2 (Ice)
Dossani/Mao (Cornell) def. Wilson/Oncins (FGCU) 6-2 (Ice)
Wilson/Oncins (FGCU) def. Laymon/Cahill (Furman), 7-6 (1) (Ice)
Sanchez/Snyder (UCF) def. Bradford/Lopez (FGCU) 6-3 (Fire)
 
Saturday Schedule
Singles
8 am
Pavel UCF v Stefanacci FGCU
Wilson FGCU v Han FU
Johnson FGCU v Kennedy FU
Sepulveda FGCU v White UCF
 
Not Before 9:30 am
Oncins FGCU v Aalderling GSU

12 pm
Damm FGCU vs Laymon FU
Weingarten KSU v Bradford FGCU

Not before 12:30 pm
Lopez FGCU v Snyder/Shroder winner

Doubles
2:30 pm
Bradford/Lopez FGCU V Han/Burnam FU
Johnson/Damm FGCU V Garcia/Conway KSU
Roumpis/Mitchell GSU v Stefanacci/Sepulveda FGCU)
Wilson/Oncins FGCU v White/Hotze UCF

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 11th year, Weber has compiled a 118-94 (.583) overall record and a 50-20 (.721) 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 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. 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 four 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.