FGCU MTEN @ UNA, Lipscomb Preview

The FGCU men's tennis team (8-8, 3-0 A-SUN) will head to North Alabama (2-13, 0-3 A-SUN) to take on the Lions in a conference matchup on Thursday, April 4. The match is set for 9:30 a.m. EDT at the UNA Varsity Tennis Courts and will be the first meeting between the two teams. Originally, the match was scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT but it was moved up due to inclement weather. Live stats for the match can be found here.

The Eagles will then head to Nashville, Tennessee, to face off against Lipscomb (6-10, 1-2 A-SUN) on Saturday, April 6. The match against the Bisons will begin at 5 p.m. at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center. It will be the 13th meeting in the series between the two teams, with FGCU currently holding a 9-3 edge.

"We've never played North Alabama before, so we're really excited to go to a new place and play a team we know almost nothing about," head coach CJ Weber said. "For Lipscomb, that is a place that we are very familiar with, so we're expecting an exciting weekend. Hopefully, we can continue to execute things we've been working on all year against both programs."

Last Time Out:
The Eagles picked up their third-straight conference win at Stetson last Saturday, earning a 6-1 victory.
The Green and Blue secured the doubles point to take an early 1-0 advantage. Juniors Feliksas Sakalauskas and Felipe Ramirez claimed a 6-2 victory on the third court and were followed up by a 6-4 triumph at the first court via the duo of seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz.

The Hatters claimed the first match of singles play with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the third flight, but it was their only point of the afternoon. Escobar regained the Green and Blue's lead with a 6-2, 7-5 win on court No. 2 and from there, FGCU cruised to victory. Senior Javier Fernandez, sophomore Juan Montes, Sakalauskas and Ruiz all earned individual wins on their respective courts.

As a result of his weekly performance, Fernandez was named A-SUN Men’s Tennis Player of the Week.

"Javi has been a staple player of our program throughout his entire career," Weber said. "He's won so many big matches for us and both Stetson and Brown were no exceptions this past week! It's a well-earned reward for a fantastic competitor."

Scouting the Lions:
UNA was on the losing end of a 4-0 shutout at Kennesaw State on March 30. So far this season, the Lions have been blanked 10 times. The team is 1-4 on its home courts and has yet to pick up a road win. The Lions did earn a 4-0 win over Mississippi Valley in a neutral-site match back in March.

Freshman Oscar Meslin and sophomore Cade Reasons lead the team with 3-9 records in singles play.

UNA is currently in its first season as an NCAA Division I member and is also in its first season in the A-SUN.

Scouting the Bison:
Lipscomb will host NJIT on Thursday, April 4 before the matchup against FGCU. The Bison defeated North Alabama 6-1 back in March before dropping matches to Kennesaw State (5-2) and at Liberty (4-3).

The doubles team of juniors Pablo Caffarena and Victor Chaw is on a four-match winning streak and has posted a 10-3 record at the first flight. Chaw and Caffarena are both 7-7 in singles play at courts one and two, respectively.

In the series between the two teams, the Eagles are 9-3 against the Bison having won seven straight matches while holding a 5-1 advantage at the FGCU Tennis Complex and a 4-2 edge at the Bisons' home courts.

Up Next:
The Green and Blue will return to the FGCU Tennis Complex for a match against Liberty (9-9, 3-0 A-SUN) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 11. The Flames are new to the A-SUN Conference this year and have already picked up wins against Kennesaw, North Alabama and Lipscomb. The match will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams; the Eagles claimed a 6-1 win over Liberty back in 2015 in Miami in a neutral-site match.