FGCU MTEN vs W&M Recap

The FGCU men’s tennis team (4-6) continued their strong start at home as they defeated William and Mary (7-5) 4-3.

"I still feel like we can do better," said head coach CJ Weber. "We did really well in doubles and took care of business there. Oli (Landert) and Feli (Escobar) gave an unbelievable gift winning two quick matches over two really good opponents. They might have been quick matches, but those were two good wins. I feel like we could have closed out some of those matches better but, overall, I'm happy for the win. I want to make sure we can learn from the things we could have done better."

Beginning with doubles, the team of senior Oliver Landert and sophomore Felipe Ramirez won 6-2 against senior Alec Miller and sophomore Brenden Volk on No. 1 doubles.

Senior Austin Bates and junior Felipe Escobar defeated freshman Finbar Talcott and senior Lars de Boer 6-4 to claim the doubles point for FGCU.

The duo of junior Mateo Ruiz and sophomore Marcelo Tebet were ahead 5-4 against senior Christian Cargill and freshman Louis Newman, but both teams did not finish their match as the Eagles claimed the doubles point. Tebet was making his on-court debut for the Eagles in doubles too.

"It was my first match at FGCU," said Tebet. "I was very nervous at the beginning, but I found my way out throughout the match, and started getting better and better, and thank god we got the win."

Going into the singles matches, Landert began with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Newman. Escobar would follow Landert with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Cargil.

With Ramirez, Ruiz and junior Javier Fernandez still working on their second sets, Tebet, who was also making his singles debut, was coming along on his third set. After falling 2-6 in the first set, the Brazil native bounced back 6-3 win in the second set before sealing the deal with another 6-3 win in the third set against Talcott, thus giving the Eagles the win.

"I was losing the first set, but I was thinking 'I can do better than that, I can do better than that,' and then keep grinding," said Tebet on his singles match. "Lucas (Vaz) was there with me, telling me to keep going, believe in myself and that's what I did."

Despite getting the win, the Eagles played out the rest of the matches in losing fashion. Ramirez would fall 6-2, 2-6, 5-7 against Miller, Fernandez lost 6-3, 2-6, 4-6 to freshman Sebastian Quiros, and Ruiz would fall 3-6, 6-1, 4-6 to Talcott.

The Eagles remain in action at home as they welcome Grand Canyon University on Friday, March 16 at 5 P.M.