"Tonight was a complete team effort!" head coach CJ Weber said. "UNF came out firing in doubles and I thought they outcompeted and outplayed us on the doubles courts. After losing the point, I was really happy about every single players' commitment to the match. This was the first time that has happened this year and I'm looking forward to it happening much more this season. I'm really pumped for the guys!"
"It was not good enough on our end today," said UNF head coach Matt Lucas We got off to a great start, the energy was high, we executed well and dominated the doubles point but we didn't carry that into singles well enough and they took advantage. We had multiple opportunities to close out the first set on different courts, and that would have swung the momentum of the match, but hopefully we start to understand how that momentum effects that match."
"We have to learn how to close out sets and execute in the big moments. We will regroup, it's still early, but the main thing is that we have to learn from this. We have a big weekend ahead with two teams from Tennessee, and we have to get back to work."
The Eagles found themselves in a hole early on as they dropped the doubles point to the Ospreys. On the top court, the team of seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz (2-2) match went unfinished at 5-4.
The momentum began to swing in FGCU's favor, beginning on court No. 3 as Escobar (2-2) collected a 6-4, 6-4 triumph. Shortly after, junior Marcelo Tebet (1-3) gave the Green and Blue its first lead with a 6-4, 7-6 decision on court No. 6. Ahead now with a 2-1 advantage, FGCU's next point would come via Felipe Ramirez (1-3) on court No. 2. The junior dominated his first set (6-2) and then put his counterpart away in a tough second set battle which ended in a 7-5 decision.
FGCU officially clinched the match on court No. 5, but it did not come easy. Senior Javier Fernandez (2-2) took his first set 7-6 and would then fall in the second set, 1-6. Unfazed, the Spain Native came away with a 6-4 third set triumph to give the Eagles the match and a 4-1 advantage.
Junior Feliksas Sakalauskas (3-1) went on to tally the final point for FGCU (6-4, 3-6, 7-6) as UNF claimed its second point of the night on court No. 1.
"Our fans and the environment was incredible tonight," added Weber. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this program on nights like these. There's probably only a handful of teams in the country that get as good support as we do, so I was really thrilled to be able to gift our fans with such a big win."
Up Next:
The Eagles will remain at home to square off against Bethune-Cookman at 2 pm Friday, Feb. 22.
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