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College tennis: FGCU men win second ASUN tourney title in three years, earn NCAA berth

Dana Caldwell
dana.caldwell@naplesnews.com; 239-253-7401

About 13 hours after completing wee-hours semifinal wins, the Florida Gulf Coast University fourth-seeded men's tennis team met sixth-seeded Lipscomb for the Atlantic Sun title on the Eagles' home courts late Sunday afternoon.

Due to heavy storms that wildly delayed Saturday's semifinals, FGCU had survived top-seeded North Florida, 4-3, at 3:15 Sunday morning after starting off at 10 Saturday night.

Eight minutes after the Eagles finished, Lipscomb walked away with a 4-2 win against second-seeded Stetson.

The Florida Gulf Coast University men's tennis team celebrates a victory after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Finals at FGCU in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sunday, April 23, 2017.

At about 7:25 Sunday night, with things still quite dicey, ASUN Freshman of the Year Felipe Ramirez finished his comeback with a 6-2 third-set win against senior Rob Mitchell at No. 1, giving the Eagles the match at 4-2 and their second NCAA tournament berth in three years..

As most of his teammates joined Ramirez for a gyrating, bouncing, giddy mass, sixth-year FGCU coach CJ Weber, who was working with Andres Alfonzo -- he held a 4-3 third-set lead on Court 4 -- picked up the team's lone senior and tournament MVP in a bear hug and carried him at a gallop to Court 1 to join the frantic celebration.

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA tournament brackets, scores, schedules, teams and more.

FGCU (10-12) is heading to the NCAA tournament. The Eagles will learn their draw on Tuesday, May 2, at 5 p.m.

"I knew today was going to be a really tough matchup," said Weber, just after getting doused with a bucket of ice water. "Lipscomb's got a really good team. I told the Lipscomb coach at the end, 'The ASUN has arrived.' We've been talking about getting this conference better, and the conference is so good right now. And Lipscomb's a really good team and they were the No. 6 seed."

FGCU quickly picked up the doubles point, but sophomore Mateo Ruiz was schooled, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 2 singles and Naples native Oliver Landert, a junior, lost, 6-4, 7-5, in a hard-swatting matchup at No. 3.

The Florida Gulf Coast University men's tennis team celebrates a victory after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Finals at FGCU in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sunday, April 23, 2017.

The Eagles' Javier Fernandez, a sophomore, cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6 and classmate Ezequiel Cerrini won, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 4 with a jaw-dropping second set.

"Fortunately we used some of our experience at the bottom to get the 'W,'" Weber said. "Hat's off to Lipscomb. They gave us everything they had."

That set up the dramatics on Courts 1 and 4. Alfonzo was in a tight battle, but had just broken for that 4-3 lead in a very spirited third set.

Meanwhile, Ramirez, who joined the team in January, finished his battle back against Mitchell, winning 6-2, 6-2 after dropping the first set 6-4.

"A lot of pressure, yeah," Ramirez said. "But I knew how to handle it the best way. In the first set, he played unbelievable.

"But I started to get in the rhythm of the match. In the third set, I had a wonderful opportunity to break and I took it. I'm happy for that."

Ramirez said the Eagles were "very tired" Sunday, but their fans -- several hundred were on hand for the final day of the first ASUN tourney FGCU has hosted -- and adrenaline got them through.

FGCU came in at 9-12 and had been only 3-3 in regular-season ASUN play. But the Eagles -- almost each of whom was injured for long stints, some two months -- finished the regular season with a 5-2 home win against Lipscomb before playing within 2-4 of No. 34 Memphis, giving them loads of confidence heading in.

"That match against  Memphis, I told the guys, 'If we play like this next weekend, we'll be fine,'" Weber said. "And I think the guys felt the same exact way. That was the first match this team played to their potential."

The Eagles shellacked No. 5 USC Upstate 5-1 on Friday before stunning UNF.

"Felipe played the top spot for us for almost the entire second half of the season," Weber said. "We needed someone on the team to step up this year while dealing with all the injuries that we dealt with. It was just a crazy, weird year.

"He went 10-5 playing against the toughest competition we've ever played against. Bright future ahead of him. Not only does he have the talent, he has the character. He's so fun to work with."

There will be plenty more of that in store.

"I'm really happy to help the team get the trophy again," said a beaming Ramirez. "Hopefully next year we can get it too. We have the team and the energy to do it."