As the A-SUN Conference tennis tournament comes to a close, two teams from the men's and women's tennis teams face each other one more time. On the women's side, No.1 FGCU took on No. 2 UNF while on the men's side, No. 4 FGCU took on No. 6 Lipscomb.
Winners of the matches will win the conference title and automatically be entered in the national tournament in Athens, Georgia and both matchups were on ESPN3.
Both FGCU and UNF faced each other in the season with FGCU coming out on top 4-3 marking the first time in program history that FGCU has beaten UNF in 13 attempts. The last time both teams faced each other in the finals, UNF came out on top 4-2.
The matchup was originally suppose to start at 10 A.M., but then switched to 9 A.M. before finalizing it at 1 P.M due to lite rain.
It started with doubles as the freshman duo of A-SUN All-Freshman Team members Bridget Forster and Sara Kelly beat Michelle Valdez and Kinga Gartner 6-1.
The team of sophomore A-SUN First Team All-Conference and A-SUN All-Academic Team member Julia Ascua and junior A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year and A-SUN All-Academic Team member Julianna Curtis beat A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Luise Intert and Quetzali Vazquez 6-3 to secure the doubles point.
Heading into singles, Forster started off with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Gartner. Senior A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Breana Stampfli followed with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 win over A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Rafaela Gomez putting FGCU up 3-0, but then FGCU was struggling.
Vazquez beat sophomore A-SUN Second Team All-Conference and All-Academic Team member Laura Falceto Font 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) for the first point for UNF.
UNF's Irina Karangozishvili would secure the second point after beating Ascua 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
It was now down to two matches for both teams.
Intert went ahead 6-2 in the first set over Kelly, but Kelly would win the second set 6-3. Kelly was ahead 4-2 in the third set, hoping to secure the win for FGCU, but during the matches, she was suffering through severe cramps and could not continue. As a result of that, Intert won the match via retire.
It all came down to one final match between A-SUN First Team All-Conference member, Michelle Valdez, and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member, A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member in doubles and A-SUN Freshman of the Year Maja Ornberg.
In a heartbreaking end, Valdez won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 over Ornberg and UNF claimed the automatic bid to the national tournament once again.
At the end, four members in the championship match made it to the A-SUN All-Tournament Team. Representing FGCU was Stampfli and representing UNF was Vazquez, Inert and Valdez. Valdez was also named the MVP of the tournament.
A-SUN All-Academic Team member Nathalie Habegger of NJIT and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Sofia Ferding of Stetson also made the A-SUN All-Tournament Team, however, they were not in attendance due to being eliminated in the semifinals of the tournament. It was really heartbreaking for FGCU, even for me, but I give UNF credit and wish them luck in the tournament.
The men played later at 3:30 P.M. No. 4 FGCU was set to play No. 6 Lipscomb. Both teams began at 11:45 P.M. due to rain on Saturday and didn't finish until 3:30 A.M. on Sunday. As a result of the finish, both teams were granted a 12-hour recovery time. No. 4 seed FGCU beat No. 1 seed UNF 4-3 in the semifinals to advance to the championship while No. 6 seed Lipscomb beat No. 2 seeded Stetson 4-1. This also marked Lipscomb's first-ever A-SUN Men's Tennis Championship Finals run in program history.
Starting with doubles, the team of sophomore Mateo Ruiz and sophomore A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Javier Fernandez played George Wong and Jorge Ortegon. Ruiz and Fernandez won the first doubles match 6-2. The team of sophomore A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Ezequiel Cerrini and senior Andres Alfonzo played and beat the team of A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Rob Mitchell and Daniel Cardenas 6-1 to secure the doubles point.
Junior Oliver Landert and A-SUN Freshman Player of the Year and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Felipe Ramirez played A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Alejandro Manzanares and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Victor Chaw and were ahead 4-2, but they did not finish the match due to courts two and three for FGCU winning their doubles
Singles play started five minutes later. Fernandez started with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Wong. Ruiz would then fall 1-6, 0-6 to Manzanares before Cerrini followed with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Cardenas to bring the lead to 3-1 for FGCU.
Chaw would secure Lipscomb's second point with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Landert and reduce FGCU's lead by one, but it wasn't enough in the end as Ramirez secured the final match point with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Mitchell. The match between Alfonzo and Ortegon did not finish, even though Alfonzo was ahead 6-1, 5-7, 4-3.
"I knew today was going to be a really tough match," said head coach CJ Weber. "Lipscomb has a really tough team. I told their coach at the end that the A-SUN has arrived. We've been talking about getting this conference better and Lipscomb being a six-seed proves how good the conference is now. Fortunately, we used some of our experience at the bottom to get the W. Hats off to Lipscomb though, they fought so hard and they gave us everything. Fortunately, we got the doubles point."
FGCU made a few historic moments in the A-SUN:
1. FGCU is the first team since 2008 to capture the A-SUN Men's Tennis Championship with three victories in three days.
2. The championship title marks the second in program history since 2015.
3. FGCU was the lowest seeded team at No. 4 to win the A-SUN Championship since 2006.
Afterwards, six members in the championship match made it to the A-SUN All-Tournament Team.
Mitchell, Chaw and Manzanares represented Lipscomb and Fernandez, Ramirez and Alfonzo represented FGCU. Alfonzo was also named MVP of the A-SUN All-Tournament Team.
The NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, as noted this year, will take place in Athens, Georgia at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex and will last from May 18–29.mSo representing the A-SUN for the women is UNF and for the men is FGCU.
It is not set in stone on who is playing whom, but there will be a selection show to determine who FGCU will play in the national tournament.
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