SCF Sports: FGCU Tennis vs. NJIT Recap

FGCU Tennis vs. NJIT Recap

The FGCU men's (7-10, 2-2 A-SUN) and women's (7-7, 3-0 A-SUN) tennis teams continue their strong performance in conference as they both defeated NJIT (men: 9-7, 1-3 A-SUN, women: 8-9, 1-3 A-SUN) by a score of 6-1 each. Both teams played at the same time on all 12 courts.With the wins, the men are 3-2 overall against the Highlanders while the women are 3-0 overall.

"Today was our best performance during conference play," said men's head coach CJ Weber. "The guys did a great job of implementing the things we were talking about after our performance against Kennesaw State, but now we have to do it again Saturday against Upstate. I was really fired up with our crowd today. Country Club Day was a real success and I'm hoping we get just as nice of a crowd to support the men and women this weekend."

"I am pleased with the fight these ladies are showing in every game," said women's head coach Courtney Vernon. "They are competing, fighting and they are committing to the process and it's exciting to see them enjoy the growth."

Beginning with a flying start to doubles for the Eagles men's team, the duo of sophomore Marcelo Tebet and senior Oliver Landert defeated senior Jan Cimrman and freshman Abdullah Fouad 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.

Junior Ezequiel Cerrini and sophomore Felipe Ramirez would follow with a 6-3 win over senior Richard Rangga and junior Lukas Zvikas at No. 2 doubles, claiming the doubles point for FGCU.

Despite being down 4-5, senior Austin Bates and junior Felipe Escobar did not finish their match against juniors Tomi Antoljak and Zac Castagna at No. 3 doubles.

“This season, we’ve been on kind of a rollercoaster ride with a lot of ups and down, and our team had just been working on some stuff, but I thought today was a really good overall effort,” said Bates. “The guys competed really hard. We competed as a unit, and I thought we had a good team victory today.

At the same time for the women's team, beginning with doubles, the duo of sophomores Bridget Forster and Sofia Perez defeated sophomore Mayar Eltony and senior Alba Rosas Garcia 6-3, but then sophomore Maja Ornberg and junior Julia Ascua would fall 3-6 to freshman Holly Matson and junior Rafaella Sampaio leaving it to only one other.

The decider came in favor of the Eagles as freshman Madison Gallegos and junior Patricia Villar defeated freshman Advatia Saravanan and junior Amanda Helminsky 6-1 giving the Eagles the doubles point.

Heading into singles play, Ramirez began with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Antoljak at No. 1 singles. Junior Javier Fernandez would follow with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Castagna at No. 5 singles before Landert sealed the deal with a 6-0, 6-2 win Zvikas on No. 3 singles to give the Eagles the series win.

Both teams decided to finish the final three matches as Tebet defeated Fouad 7-5, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. After Cerrini fell 6-7, 6-2, 7-10 to Cimrman in No. 2 singles, Bates would give the Eagles the final point with a 7-5 pair decision over Rangga at No. 6 singles.

“It’s a team sport,” said Bates on his match. “I played really well, but we were just really focused on the team effort today and I thought the team, as a whole, did a really good job and we’re really looking forward with a lot of momentum.”

For the women in singles, Perez would begin with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Sampaio. Forster would follow quickly with a pair of 6-2 decisions over Rosas Garcia.

The Highlanders would then get their first point as Ascua would fall 6-7, 2-6 to Eltony.

With the score 3-1 in favor of the Eagles, Ornberg was able to seal the deal for the Eagles. The current A-SUN Player of the Week fell behind briefly in the second set, but made a strong comeback winning 6-2, 6-4 over Saravanan and claiming the win for the Eagles.

With two matches left, Gallegos, who fell in the first set managed to secure sets two and three against Matson winning 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 before Villar claimed the final point with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 win over Helminsky.

“Finishing in the second set, I honestly thought she (Helminsky) did a better job than in the first set, but I was confident because I was thinking ‘let’s do it for the team’, so I just competed really hard,” said Villar. “I think overall we did a good job. Everyone was focusing on their court and I think everyone took care of business and the energy was there. Thank you for everyone coming out. That helped a lot.”

It was a really good crowd for both matchups and a lot of people showed up to see the matches and it was very moving and very energizing.

The Eagles return to action as they face USC Upstate at home.

Below are individual pics with me and the tennis players: