The No. 1 FGCU men's tennis team (13-8) cruised to a 4-0 victory over No. 4 Kennesaw State (10-13) in the 2019 A-SUN Men's Tennis Championship Semifinals on Saturday morning at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. With the win, the Eagles are now 8-4 against the Owls.
"I'm really happy and proud of this group," head coach CJ Weber said. "We had tough conditions yesterday that we overcame. And we had a long rain delay that we also overcame. We're really looking forward to playing UNF in the final. It's going to be a great battle and a lot of fun."
For the eighth match in a row, the Green and Blue got off to a great start by claiming the doubles point. The duo of juniors Feliksas Sakalauskas and Felipe Ramirez (10-3) earned a 6-2 triumph at the third court to get things going for the Eagles. Seniors Felipe Escobar and Mateo Ruiz (10-5) secured the point for FGCU with a hard-fought 7-5 victory on court No. 1.
At the time the point was clinched, junior Marcelo Tebet and sophomore Juan Montes (8-1) were ahead of their KSU competitors 6-5.
The match was originally scheduled for Friday afternoon. While it did start at its scheduled time, incoming rain caused play to be suspended after the doubles point was claimed and a few games into singles play. The match was resumed Saturday morning at 9 a.m. right where it left off.
Senior Javier Fernandez (13-4) was the first to finish in singles play, claiming his 10th-straight win with a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set triumph. This was Fernandez's 93rd career win with the Eagles.
Ramirez (9-8) followed up with a 7-5, 6-2 win at the second flight to put the Eagles up 3-0.
Escobar (8-9) grabbed the final point of the day for the Green and Blue when he defeated his Owl competitor 7-5, 6-2 on court No. 3. The win punched the Eagles' ticket to the 2019 A-SUN Men's Tennis Championship Finals.
FGCU will face third-seeded UNF in tomorrow's championship. The Ospreys defeated No. 2 Liberty 4-3 in today's other semifinal.
This will be the third finals appearance for FGCU. The Eagles first appeared in the championship as the top seed in 2015 and claimed a 4-3 victory over No. 2 UNF. In 2017, the Green and Blue made it to the final as the fourth seed and defeated No. 6 Lipscomb 4-2.
The Ospreys have a 2-4 record in the A-SUN Championship, including a 0-3 mark as the second seed. Last year, No. 1 UNF defeated No. 2 Stetson 4-1 to earn the 2018 A-SUN Men's Tennis Championship title.
Results
Singles competition
1. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) vs. Fermin Calvo Barcelo (KSU) 6-7, 1-4, unfinished
2. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Bryan Triana (KSU) 7-5, 6-2
3. ESCOBAR, Felipe (FGCU) def. Lucas deTorres Curth (KSU) 7-5, 6-2
4. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) vs. Sebastian Osorio (KSU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-4, unfinished
5. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) vs. Gaston Muhammad (KSU) 3-6, 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
6. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. Jose Galvez (KSU) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 2, 3
Doubles competition
1. ESCOBAR, Felipe/RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) def. Fermin Calvo Barcelo/Drew Lahey (KSU) 7-5
2. TEBET, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) vs. Harvey Maughan/Lucas deTorres Curth (KSU) 6-5, unfinished
3. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas/RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Bryan Triana/Jose Galvez (KSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1
Up Next:
No. 1 FGCU will battle against No. 3 UNF for the 2019 A-SUN Men's Tennis Championship title. The match is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 21 at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center and will be streamed on ESPN+. The winner earns the A-SUN's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship tournament.
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