FGCU MTEN vs FAU Recap

The FGCU men's tennis team (1-3) battled against cross-state rival FAU (5-4) Saturday evening, as the Eagles were narrowly defeated 4-3 at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"Overall this match was exactly what we thought it would be," said head coach CJ Weber. "At the start of the doubles, the energy was really good and it came down to one point. We fought extremely hard and put ourselves in a position to win. We knew this was going to be a battle. I'm really proud of (Escobar) and (Ramirez) at the end for grinding it out and battling to still have an opportunity to win."

The Eagles rallied in doubles play to come away with the 1-0 lead. After being down on court No. 3, sophomore Juan Montes and junior Marcelo Tebet pulled through on court No. 2 with a 6-4 win, leaving the premiere court as the decisive match. It did not come easy for the Eagles, but the No. 1 tandem of seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz came out on top 7-6 (7).

In singles play, Montes would go on to score another point for the Eagles in his match with a 6-1, 6-4 decision. With FGCU leading 2-1 after the point from Montes, FAU gained the lead with wins on courts No. 4 and No. 6. Not going away just yet, the Green and Blue received a huge lift from Escobar on court No. 3. After dropping the first set 3-6, Escobar rallied back in his next two sets, taking each one by a score of 6-3, tying the match 3-3.

All eyes turned onto the top court where Ramirez claimed his first set 7-6 (7-3). But FAU's Jason Legall bounced back to win the second set 6-1, eventually taking the final third set, 7-5.

Up Next:
FGCU returns to the Nest for a match against A-SUN rival UNF at 5 pm Feb. 16.