FGCU MTEN vs FAMU Recap

For the first time this season, the FGCU men's tennis team was able to get into the win column after it picked up a 6-1 victory over the Florida A&M Rattlers on Saturday night at the FGCU Tennis Complex.

"I thought today was overall a good match," head coach CJ Weber said. "It was a little unique with FAMU only having five guys. Sometimes, that can be a distraction because it's outside the norm. The guys, however, did a good job of using that to our advantage. They got them down early and used that momentum to close things out quickly. I thought the guys overall did a good job of taking care of business."

In doubles play, FAMU (0-5) was unable to field a No. 3 doubles team, meaning that FGCU had to win just one match in order to clinch the early point. The duo of senior Marcelo Tebet and junior Juan Montes achieved said feat for the Green and Blue by earning a 6-3 triumph on court two. Seniors Felipe Ramirez and Feliksas Sakalauskas were leading their opponents 4-3 at the time the point was secured.

Montes continued his winning streak in singles play, where he quickly grabbed a 6-0, 6-1 win over Robert Hayden. Since the Rattlers were also unable to play at the No. 6 singles spot, Montes' win put FGCU up 3-0.

Within minutes of the first singles win, sophomore Carter Bradford officially clinched the match for the Eagles with a straight-set victory at the fifth flight. The triumph marked Bradford's first in singles play as a member of the Green and Blue.

Tebet had a close match on the top court, as FAMU's Jean-Baptiste Mbong pushed the second frame to a tiebreaker. Ultimately, the senior defeated Mbong 7-2 to push FGCU out to a 5-0 edge.

While Bradford, Montes and Tebet finished off their competitors in two sets, the rest of the Eagles battled into three. After dropping his second frame, Sakalauskas bounced back and grabbed a 10-2 win in the third set to secure court two.

The match between freshman Guglielmo Stefanacci and the Rattlers' Eliott Ekindi also went into a third set, where Ekindi earned a 10-3 triumph to prevent the Rattlers from being shut out entirely.

With the win, the Eagles are now 65-65 all-time against opponents that hail from the Sunshine State.

Results
Singles competition
1. TEBET, Marcelo (FGCU) def. MBONG,jJean-Baptiste (FAMUM) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
2. SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. CERVINKA,Petr (FAMUM) 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 10-2
3. MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. HAYDEN,Robert (FAMUM) 6-0, 6-1
4. EKINDI,Eliott (FAMUM) def. STEFANACCI,Guglielmo (FGCU) 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 10-3
5. BRADFORD, Carter (FGCU) def. STURGIS,Rodeny (FAMUM) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: (3, 5, 2, 1, 4)

Doubles competition
1. RAMIREZ, Felipe/SAKALAUSKAS,Feliksas (FGCU) def. CERVINKA,Petr/EKINDI,Eliott (FAMUM) 4-3
2. TEBET, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. MBONG,jJean-Baptiste/HAYDEN,Robert (FAMUM) 6-3
Order of finish: (2)