In a rematch from the ASUN Conference Tournament Championship last year, the FGCU men’s tennis team (6-9, 1-1 ASUN) claimed their first conference win as they defeated Lipscomb (6-9, 1-1 ASUN) by a score of 5-2. With the win, the Eagles are now 9-3 against the Bison. In addition, the Eagles are currently in a four-way tie with Lipscomb, NJIT and Stetson for second place in the ASUN Conference standings.
“Today was a great college match,” said head coach CJ Weber. “Lipscomb competed well, but we did a great job of getting on top and not letting go. We actually had a great crowd out there who supported us well, which is always nice to have on the road. Now we shift our focus to Kennesaw State.”
In the doubles portion of the matchup, the duo of sophomore Felipe Ramirez and senior Austin Bates defeated senior Daniel Cardenas and freshman Pedro Uribe 6-2 at No. 2 doubles. Juniors Mateo Ruiz and Ezequiel Cerrini would follow with a 6-1 win over sophomore Jorge Ortegon and freshman Francesco Tacconi at the No. 3 doubles, claiming the point for the Eagles. The duo of senior Oliver Landert and sophomore Marcelo Tebet, who were playing at the No. 1 singles, did not finish their match against senior Alejandro Manzanares and freshman Victor Chaw, which was tied 4-4, due to the Eagles already claiming the point.
Heading into the singles competition, junior Javier Fernandez would add to the Eagles’ lead as the Ibiza, Spain native defeated Tacconi with a pair of 6-4 decisions. The Bison would then claim their first point of the matchup as Tebet would fall with a pair of 4-6 decisions to Cardenas. Cerrini would then fall 4-6, 5-7 to Chaw as the Bison tied the matchup.
With the score 2-2, the Eagles would manage to regain the lead from Ramirez as the former ASUN Freshman of the Year won his match 6-3, 7-5 over Manzanares before Bates sealed the deal with a 7-5, 7-6 win over Uribe and claimed the automatic win for the Eagles. Landert would add to the win in his match as the Switzerland native won his match over Ortegon with a final score of 6-2, 4-6, 7-6.
The Eagles will wrap up their two-match conference road trip as they face Kennesaw State before traveling back to FGCU with a three-match homestead against NJIT, USC Upstate and Stetson.