The FGCU men's tennis team (5-7, 1-0 A-SUN) was on the winning side of a 4-3 battle against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks (6-8, 0-0 CAA) Thursday night at the FGCU Tennis Complex. The match came down to the final court in singles play, where junior Marcelo Tebet earned the winning point.
"This was a true team effort and I am so proud of everyone," head coach CJ Weber said. "We went into today with a mission and everybody fulfilled their role on the team. So that was a 100 percent team effort. Even the guys that lost today, I'm very proud of them because we played with the right attitude. That's all we can ask for."
The Eagles got off to a hot start to today's match, dominating doubles play. On the first court, seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz (5-4) earned a 6-1 victory over their UNCW opponents. The duo of juniors Feliksas Sakalauskas and Felipe Ramirez (3-2) followed up with a decisive victory of their own on court No. 3, beating their competitors with a score of 6-3.
With two wins, the Green and Blue clinched the doubles point and took an early 1-0 lead. At the time doubles play was called, Tebet and sophomore Juan Montes were leading a UNCW duo 5-4 at the second court.
The Seahawks got on the board with Bruno Caula's straight-set victory over Sakalauskas (5-6) at the fifth court (6-2, 6-3). Senior Javier Fernandez (4-4) helped the Eagles regain the lead with a decisive triumph on court No. 6, defeating his competitor 6-0, 6-4. Montes (5-7) also picked up a win in singles play with a 6-4, 6-1 win at the first court, extending the Green and Blue's advantage to 3-1.
The Seahawks picked up their second win in singles play with a 6-4, 6-4 decision on court No. 2, cutting the home team's lead to 3-2. The match was left to be decided by courts three and four, which both went into three sets.
UNCW's Daniel Groom dug out a 6-4 win in in the third set at the third flight, which tied things up between the two teams at 3-3.
The play on court No. 4 was consistently back-and-forth. Tebet and the Seahawks' Michael Copeland were evenly matched and kept one another in check. Eventually, Tebet (6-4) clinched the win for the Eagles with a 6-4 win in the third set.
Results
Singles competition
1. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. Austin Hussey (UNCW) 6-4, 6-1
2. Agustin Savarino (UNCW) def. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Cole Groetsch (UNCW) def. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
4. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) def. Michael Copeland (UNCW) 7-6 (15-13), 2-6, 6-4
5. Bruno Caula (UNCW) def. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) 6-2, 6-3
6. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. Davide Innocenti (UNCW) 6-0, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Michael Morphy/Daniel Groom (UNCW) 6-1
2. TEBET, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) vs. Bruno Caula/Cole Groetsch (UNCW) 5-4, unfinished
3. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Agustin Savarino/Michael Copeland (UNCW) 6-3
Up Next
The Eagles will continue their long home swing with a match against Georgia State next Wednesday, March 20. The match against the Panthers is set to begin at 5 p.m. at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
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