Men’s Tennis Cruises to Victory over Jacksonville State

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The #72 FGCU men’s tennis team swept through singles Sunday morning to take down Jacksonville State, 6-1, wrapping up the home slate for the regular season. The Eagles improve to 13-6 overall and 6-1 in the ASUN while the Gamecocks fall to 7-9 and 2-5 in league play.

“Jacksonville State did a great job of jumping on us in doubles,” said head coach CJ Weber. “Much like the Kennesaw State match a week ago, however, the guys responded extremely well in singles to beat an extremely tough team down a point after dubs. The guys are learning and growing, and we just have to stay focused the rest of the season in order to continue to reach our potential. We’re looking forward to heading up to Alabama next week to play UNA!”

After dropping the doubles point, redshirt-sophomore Guglielmo Stefanacci (Prato, Italy/International School of Florence) evened up the score with a 6-1, 6-4 win on court five before graduate student Juan Montes (Pereira, Colombia/Colegio Lujan) won by the same score on court four to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.

Redshirt-sophomore Marcelo Sepulveda (Monterrey, Mexico/Penn Foster/Alabama) put the Eagles up 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court two, his 10th win of the spring.

Redshirt-sophomore Juan Lopez (Gachancipa, Colombia/Colegio Virtual Siglio XXI) clinched the match for the Eagles with a 6-2, 6-4 win on court six.

On court one, redshirt-sophomore Magnus Johnson (Naples, Fla./Homeschool/UCF) was down 6-3 in the first-set tiebreaker, but came back to win the final five points take the set. In the second set, he cruised to a 6-2 win for his 15th win of the season.

Redshirt-sophomore Randy Wilson (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Miami Palmetto/Louisville) capped off the day with a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win, improving to 9-0 at the No. 3 position this spring.

#72 FGCU 6, Jacksonville State 1

Singles Action


1.    JOHNSON, Magnus (FGCU) def. Joaquin Vallejo (JSU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2

2.    SEPULVEDA, Marcelo (FGCU) def. Thomas Norwood (JSU) 6-2, 6-3

3.    WILSON, Randy (FGCU) def. Vicente Arbelaez (JSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

4.    MONTES, Juan (FGCU) def. Vanja Dobrnjac (JSU) 6-1, 6-4

5.    STEFANACCI, Gugli (FGCU) def. Jordi Blanchar (JSU) 6-1, 6-4

6.    LOPEZ, Juan (FGCU) def. Daisuke Inagawa (JSU) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles Action

1.    Jordi Blanchar/Vanja Dobrnjac (JSU) def. DAMM, Max/JOHNSON, Magnus (FGCU) 6-4

2.    Daisuke Inagawa/Thomas Norwood (JSU) def. SEPULVEDA, Marcelo/MONTES, Juan (FGCU) 6-4

3.    WILSON, Randy/ONCINS, Eric (FGCU) def. Joaquin Vallejo/Alex Vishnevskiy (JSU) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,2,6,1,3)

The Eagles will conclude the regular season on Saturday when they travel to North Alabama. First serve from Florence is set for 10 a.m.

 

For complete coverage of FGCU men’s tennis, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_MTen and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU men’s tennis or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

CJ WEBER

FGCU is led by three-time ASUN Coach of the Year CJ Weber, who has coached 32 ASUN All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In his seventh year, Weber has compiled a 116-83 (.583) overall record and a 49-19 (.721) record in ASUN play. In 2014-15, Weber guided the Eagles to their first-ever ASUN Championship and first-ever ASUN Regular Season title after a program-best 17 wins. In his third season, Weber led Jordi Vives to a No. 35 national ranking, a nation-leading 14-match unbeaten streak and the round of 32 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament – the program’s first appearance. The Eagles completed a perfect ASUN regular season in both 2015 and 2016, finishing with conference titles as well as a Coach of the Year honor for Weber. FGCU again won the 2017 ASUN Championship and made its second NCAA appearance. The Eagles returned to the mountaintop by claiming the 2019 regular season and tournament championships. Weber earned his third ASUN Coach of the Year honor and led the Green and Blue to their third trip to the NCAA Tournament. 

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN

IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal – a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign – Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!

 

#FEEDFGCU

FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU

FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.