FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's tennis team opens up its 2023 spring season this weekend as they welcome Southern Miss. and 2022 Patriot League semifinalist Bucknell to Southwest Florida. 
 
The weekend gets started on Friday evening when the Eagles take on the Golden Eagles at 5 p.m. before returning to action to battle the Bisons Saturday evening.  

FGCU returns eight members from its 2022 roster including Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) who repeated as ASUN Player of the Year, and also was chosen to the ASUN All-Academic.  

 Redshirt-junior Marcelo Sepulveda (Monterrey, Mexico/Penn Foster/Alabama) and redshirt-junior Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville) were named All-Conference Second Team. 

In the ASUN preseason poll, FGCU was picked third, and collected 121 points. Liberty was picked to repeat as champions, receiving nine first-place votes and 139 overall points. North Florida was second with two first-place votes and 129 points. Kennesaw State (98), Jacksonville State (97), Stetson (94), Queens (N.C.) (52), Lipscomb (51), Bellarmine (51), North Alabama (45), Eastern Kentucky (42) and Austin Peay (13) round out the poll. 
 

Four Eagles tallied double-digit wins in singles action, with Johnson leading the way with 21 victories.  Doubles teammates Sepulveda and Wilson each won 15 matches  
 
FGCU defeated #68 Liberty and #70 Kennesaw State while also picking up two points against No. 26 Memphis. 

After this weekend's two home matches, FGCU will remain home facing off against USF (Jan. 20), Florida Atlantic (Jan. 25), Georgia State (Feb.10), and will host back-to-back matches against Mercer on Feb.17  and 18. The Green & Blue will then drive across Alligator Alley to batter ACC member  Miami (Feb. 25). before returning home for ASUN Conference competition against Stetson on March 3 at the FGCU Tennis Complex. 
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 In the classroom, the Eagles posted a team GPA of 3.45 and earned ITA All-Academic Team honors as five team members were named scholar-athletes.  
 

Southern Miss. recorded a 9-10 campaign and went 0-3 in the C-USA conference in 2022. Bucknell registered a 10-17 season with 4-3 in league action. 

 

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 12th year, Weber has compiled a 123-95 (.564) overall record and a 51-19 (.729) 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.  In 2022, Weber led the Eagles to another ASUN regular-season title while reaching #65 in the ITA rankings, the highest in program history. 
 
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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.     
 
 
ABOUT FGCU  
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an 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 and No. 25 in 2022-23) 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 & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 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.  
  
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