Wednesday, March 13, 2013

FGCU Tennis Men's Tennis Coach, C.J. Weber's Newsletter



Dear fans and supporters of FGCU Men’s Tennis:

It’s been a couple weeks since I last wrote, but we’ve had some fun and exciting happenings with the tennis team here at FGCU. Since I last wrote, we lost a close 6-1 match to #54 Old Dominion. I know it may seem that a 6-1 match can’t be close, but we were on the short end of two 8-6 doubles matches at #1&2; we lost 2 three set matches at #5&6 singles, and we lost another close two set match at #2. These are matches that I’m confident we can turn around even before the end of the season!

Last weekend, we avenged yet ANOTHER loss that we had from the previous year! We beat FAU 5-2, after they beat us the previous year 5-2. It didn’t come easy for us, however. After the losing the doubles point and starting down 1-0 heading into doubles, we knew we had a big task ahead of us. And it also didn’t help when we lost 3 of the 6 first sets in singles either! But the boys really showed A LOT of resilience when we came storming back, and ended up winning 5 of the 6 singles match to win the overall match 5-2! Big ups (literally) to Bao at #2 for breaking his opponent at 5-4, who was serving for the match in the second set! Bao lost to that player in the fall in straight sets, so that was a huge physical and mental barrier that he overcame. The match was probably highlighted in Dean’s match at #3 however, when his opponent hit a second serve over the fence ON PURPOSE to lose the match on a double fault! This may seem odd to the average fan, but if you’ve watched Dean compete before, it has become a regular thing where he completely breaks down each of his opponents mentally in all of his matches. To me, this obnoxious double fault showed how we BROKE them as a team, and I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts of everybody on the team to contribute to this result.

The next day, we traveled to Miami, and as many of you know, I worked at Miami for 5 years as the assistant coach, so this was a very special day for me to say the least. We lost the match 6-1; but again, it was honestly a match that could have gone either way. I sound like a broken record when talking like this, but we lost two close 2 setters at #2&3, and lost two more 3 setters at #5&6! In order to break into the top 75 this year, we’re going to have to figure out how to win these matches, but at the same time, I’m still proud of the guys’ efforts; and we continue to represent ourselves very well in terms of our fight and competitiveness. Jordi Vives was our lone victory against the Canes, as he defeated fellow countrymen Diego Soto at #1 singles in three sets! This was a big win for Jordi, as Diego is a very good player from Spain, and never an easy player to beat!

Well, the Miami match concluded our non-conference portion of our season, and now we move into the ever so important ASun conference season! Come out and support your Eagles this week, as we compete against Lipscomb, a team that beat us 4-3 last season, this Thursday at 6 pm; as well as Northern Kentucky, conference newcomer, this Saturday at 6 pm. Two HUGE matches for the Eagles, as we hope to start the conference season with a BANG, and send a message to everybody in the ASun that we are here for real, and we are a force to be reckoned with!!!

EAGLE UP!!!


C. J. Weber
Head Men’s Tennis Coach
Florida Gulf Coast University

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