FGCU MTEN @ Stetson Recap

The FGCU men's tennis team (8-8, 3-0 A-SUN) earned a 6-1 conference victory at Stetson (9-9, 1-2 A-SUN) on Saturday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

"We have been playing like a real team lately, and today was one of our better efforts," head coach CJ Weber said. "Stetson, I felt, fought an unbelievable match and made it very difficult on us. But the guys responded so well and were really disciplined all throughout the match. I'm very proud of this group and I already can't wait to watch us compete next week."

For the third match in a row, the Eagles earned an early lead by claiming the doubles point. The duo of juniors Feliksas Sakalauskas and Felipe Ramirez (7-4) claimed a 6-2 victory on the third court and were followed up by a 6-4 triumph at the first court via the team of seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz (7-6).

The Hatters evened things up at 1-1 with a straight-set victory at the third flight in singles play as junior Marcelo Tebet (8-5), but it was their only point of the afternoon.

Escobar (4-8) regained the Green and Blue's lead with a 6-2, 7-5 win on court No. 2. From there, the Eagles cruised to their victory. Ruiz (2-2) earned a win at court six after finishing the third set 6-2. Senior Javier Fernandez (8-4) won the fifth flight, marking his fifth victory in a row. Sophomore Juan Montes (7-7) and Sakalauskas (8-7) finished up the scoring with third-set wins at the first and fourth courts, respectively.

The last time the Eagles started off 3-0 in conference play was during the 2015-16 season. That year, the Green and Blue went undefeated in the regular conference season.

Results
Singles competition
1. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. Louis Gorregues (STET) 7-5, 6-7, 1-0
2. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) def. Clement Hamel (STET) 6-2, 7-5
3. Antoine Sanchez (STET) def. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) 6-3, 6-2
4. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. Tim Gennes (STET) 7-5, 6-7, 6-2
5. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. Coilin MacNamara (STET) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
6. RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Christian Mills (STET) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 6, 5, 1, 4

Doubles competition
1. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Tim Gennes/Linus Bergevi (STET) 6-4
2. MONTES, Juan/TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) def. Coilin MacNamara/Clement Hamel (STET) 5-4
3. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Antoine Sanchez/Dennis Moses (STET) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1

Up Next:
FGCU will continue its conference road swing with a match at North Alabama (2-12, 0-2 A-SUN) next Tuesday, April 4. The Green and Blue will face off against the Lions at 2 p.m. at the UNA Tennis Complex. The matchup will be the first in program history between the two teams. UNA is currently in its first season as an NCAA Division I member and is also in its first season in the A-SUN.