No. 1 seed FGCU
No. 2 seed UNF
No. 3 seed NJIT
No. 4 seed Stetson
No. 5 seed Lipscomb
No. 6 Kennesaw
Since FGCU and UNF are the top two seeds, they have been secured with a bye round, so they did not have to compete in the quarterfinals. They will await the winners of the QF matchups
Seeds No. 3-6 will play in the QF to advance to the semifinals.
I was able to take a brief look at the four teams that were playing this morning before class.
No.3 NJIT was playing No. 6 Kennesaw while No.4 Stetson played No.5 Lipscomb.
There was actually a decent crowd at the FGCU Tennis Complex. Even members of the Lipscomb men's tennis team were there to support the Lady Bison.
The Highlanders beat the Owls 4-3 while the Hatters beat the Bison 4-2.
What was interesting before I left for class was during the doubles matches between Lipscomb and Stetson, Lipscomb forfeited one of their matches, leaving the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to secure the point before losing. So the semifinals have been set. No, 1 FGCU will face No. 4 Stetson and No. 2 UNF will face No. 3 NJIT tomorrow at noon. The winners of both semis will play in the championship at 10 a.m. on ESPN 3 and will secure an automatic bid in the NCAA National Tournament in Athens, Georgia.
On the men's side, the journey has already begun as well.
Just like the women, the men's seeds were set and secure in the tournament:
No. 1 seed UNF
No. 2 seed Stetson
No. 3 seed Kennesaw
No. 4 seed FGCU
No. 5 seed Upstate
No. 6 seed Lipscomb
UNF and Stetson also had a first round bye for being the top two seeds, and seeds 3-6 started. FGCU played Upstate while Kennesaw played Lipscomb.
In doubles, FGCU and Upstate were neck and neck. On court one, the team of junior Oliver Landert and A-SUN Freshman of the Year and A-SUN All-Freshman team member Felipe Ramirez took on freshman Fernando Bernardes and junior Ignacio Garrido. Landert and Ramirez won 6-1.
On court two, senior Andy Alfonzo and A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member Ezequiel Cerrini took on junior Felix Ewers and sophomore Lenhard Haupt, but fell 4-6.
It all came down to court three with the team of Mateo Ruiz and A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Javier Fernandez took on sophomore Ankush Arora and freshman Francisco Neto. Fernandez and Ruiz struggled early in the set, but soon came to life and finished with a 7-5 victory. On the final point, Fernandez and Ruiz fought with a 40-love lead before securing the match point
Going into singles, with FGCU leading 1-0, Ewers took down Ramirez 6-0, 6-1 to tie the matchup, but the Eagles fought back after Ramirez's loss. Cerrini took down Bernardes with a 6-1, 6-2 win. Fernandez was quick to follow with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Neto.
With the score 3-1 in favor of the Eagles, it came down to three matches: Ruiz vs Haupt, Landert vs Arora and Alfonzo vs Garrido. Ruiz dropped the first set to Haupt 4-6, but then won the second set 7-6 in a tiebreaker. Landert battled Arora and won the first set, but dropped the second set.
At the same time, Landert and Alfonzo went for match point and secured the win for FGCU to advance. Landert won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 and Alfonzo won 7-5, 6-3 against Garrido. Ruiz did not finish his matchup since FGCU won.
"I'm really proud of Oliver," said head coach CJ Weber. "He's had a lot of close matches but he's been playing great tennis. I don't know if he needed this because his tennis has been fine but it has to feel good for him to get a win for the team and to clinch the match. The last several years we've gone back and forth with UNF and it's an awesome rivalry and we always look forward to it. I want us to pack the house tomorrow."
In the end, FGCU won 4-1 and will face UNF in the semifinals.
Attendance wise, it was a really big crowd. A lot of people were there. More than I could imagine. In fact, a lot of the FGCU men's soccer players including junior A-SUN Player of the Year Albert Ruiz, former cross country runner Stephanie Cajas and members of the FGCU women's tennis team.
After FGCU's victory, Kennesaw played Lipscomb and it was close matchup. Lipscomb won 4-3 after junior Alejandro Manzanares of Lipscomb beat sophomore Fermin Calvo Barcelo of KSU 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. Lipscomb will play Stetson in semifinals and FGCU will once again face UNF at 5 p.m.
The FGCU women's team will play Stetson and UNF will play NJIT at noon.
Below are numerous photos from the matchups for men's and women's tournament:
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