JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After inclement weather forced the Atlantic Sun Men's Tennis semifinals matches to finish on Sunday, FGCU and North Florida earned victories to move on to the A-Sun Championship Final. The Eagles defeated Stetson, 4-2, while host UNF won over USC Upstate, 4-1.
FGCU jumped out to an early lead against the Hatters after claiming the doubles point. Jordi Vives and Eduardo Alfonzo defeated Stetson's Chester Espie and Loic Blanco at No. 1 doubles, 8-2. Soon after, Ricky Ventura and Lucas Vaz clinched their match at No. 2 doubles with an 8-4 result.
Taking a 1-0 lead into singles play, FGCU added another point when Vives won in straight-sets at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-2. Stetson answered the FGCU run with a win at No. 6 singles as Espie defeated Michael Beiler, 6-2, 6-3. A rain delay postponed the rest of the matches until Sunday where the Eagles had a 2-1 lead.
On Sunday, Alfonzo grabbed a quick victory for the Eagles to start the day at No. 5 singles over Graham Ball, 6-4, 7-5. Stetson stayed alive after Blanco scored a win on No. 2 singles over Andres Alfonzo of FGCU, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. With the match on the line, Tianyu Bao took an early advantage in the third set against Simon Julin and pulled out the three-set victory at No. 4 singles. FGCU moved on to the A-Sun Championship Final with a 4-2 team win.
In the UNF and USC Upstate match, the Ospreys gained the first point of the match by winning the doubles advantage with wins on No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Lasse Muscheites and Zach Goldberg won at No. 1 by a score of 8-2, while Norbert Nemcsek and Julian Bradley took No. 2 doubles with a score of 8-3.
In the singles portion of the match on Saturday, Alberto De Meo of UNF was the only player to score a singles point with a win on No. 6 singles, 6-3, 6-2.
Heading into Sunday with a 2-0 lead, UNF's Yannick Zuern scored the first singles point of the day when he defeated Viktor Selander at No. 2 singles in three sets (2-6, 6-1, 6-2). USC Upstate got a point back at No. 3 singles when Jamie Yates defeated Bradley in three sets to make the team score 3-1, UNF leading.
The rest of the singles matches were coming down to the wire between the Spartans and the Ospreys. All eyes were on No. 4 singles as Muscheites of UNF and Ignacio Garrido of USC Upstate battled to a third set. Muscheites came back from one set down and jumped out to an early advantage in the third set. The UNF freshman put away the match in the third set, 6-3, and clinched an A-Sun Championship Final berth for the Ospreys, 4-1.
The Eagles and the Ospreys meet in the Atlantic Sun Men's Tennis Final today, April 19, at 2 p.m. ET.
Tennis Match Results
No. 4 Stetson vs No. 1 FGCU
Apr 18, 2015 at Jacksonville, Fla.
No. 1 FGCU 4, No. 4 Stetson 2
Singles competition
1. Jordi Vives (FGCU) def. Nathan Debut (STET) 6-1, 6-2
2. Loic Blanco (STET) def. Andres Alfonzo (FGCU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Ricky Ventura (FGCU) vs. Laurynas Antropikas (STET) 3-6, 6-4, 3-5, unfinished
4. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) def. Simon Julin (STET) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-2
5. Eduardo Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Graham Ball (STET) 6-4, 7-5
6. Chester Espie (STET) def. Michael Beiler (FGCU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Jordi Vives/Eduardo Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Chester Espie/Loic Blanco (STET) 8-2
2. Ricky Ventura/Lucas Vaz (FGCU) def. Laurynas Antropikas/Simon Julin (STET) 8-4
3. Tianyu Bao/Austin Bates (FGCU) vs. Nathan Debut/Graham Ball (STET) 6-4, unfinished