FGCU MTEN @ UNA Recap

The FGCU men's tennis team (9-8, 4-0 A-SUN) cruised to a 7-0 victory over North Alabama (2-14, 0-4 A-SUN) on Thursday morning at the UNA Varsity Tennis Courts.

"I'm proud of the guys today," head coach CJ Weber said. "We avoided all distractions. With incoming rain, we decided to play singles first and that's the first time we've done that this year. But the guys jumped on them early and didn't let go. Across the board for singles and doubles, we stayed focused and closed out on all our opportunities. We're looking forward to Lipscomb now."

The match between the Eagles and the Lions was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, but was moved up to 9:30 a.m. EDT due to inclement weather. The forecast also influenced the order in which the match was played; singles play was first, followed by doubles.

Senior Felipe Escobar (5-8) earned the first point of the morning with a straight-set victory at the third flight, giving the Green and Blue an early 1-0 lead. Junior Felipe Ramirez (7-7) added a 6-3, 6-1 triumph on court No. 2 and was followed up by junior Marcelo Tebet's (9-5) straight-set win at the fourth court.

Junior Feliksas Sakalauskas (9-7) clinched the match for FGCU with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on the fifth court, putting the Eagles up 4-0. Reigning A-SUN Player of the Week senior Javier Fernandez (9-) extended his current winning streak to six matches with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph at the sixth court.

Sophomore Juan Montes (8-7) was the only Eagle that had to battle through three sets in singles play. He won the first set 6-3 but dropped the second 3-6 at the first flight. Montes earned the last singles point with a 10-6 tiebreaker win in the third set.

For the fourth match in a row, the Green and Blue captured the doubles point. The duo of Sakalauskas and Fernandez (8-4) earned a 6-4 win at the third flight and the team of senior Mateo Ruiz and Escobar (8-6) sealed the doubles point with a 6-2 triumph on the first court.

Tebet and Montes (5-1) played out their set on court No. 2 and claimed a 6-4 victory.

The only other A-SUN team that is currently undefeated in conference play is Liberty. The Flames are 3-0 and have picked up wins against Lipscomb, Stetson and UNF.

Results
Singles competition
1. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. Jason Pimenta (UNA) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
2. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Oscar Meslin (UNA) 6-3, 6-1
3. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) def. Gustavo Girao (UNA) 6-1, 6-1
4. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) def. Andreas Hansen (UNA) 6-0, 6-2
5. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. Tim Heslin (UNA) 6-3, 6-4
6. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. George Markos (UNA) 6-1, 7-5
Order of finish: 3,4,2,5,6,1

Doubles competition
1. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Jason Pimenta/Gustavo Girao (UNA) 6-2
2. TEBET, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. Andreas Hansen/Oscar Meslin (UNA) 6-4
3. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. George Markos/Tim Heslin (UNA) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Up Next:
The Eagles will travel to Nashville to take on Lipscomb at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Center at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 6. It will be the 13th meeting between the Eagles and the Bisons. FGCU currently holds a 9-3 advantage.