Eagles Hand Lipscomb 6-1 Defeat to Open A-Sun Play

Coming off a 6-1 loss to No. 67 Miami last Saturday, the FGCU men’s tennis team used a decisive 6-1 victory over Lipscomb, Thursday night at the FGCU Tennis Complex to open Atlantic Sun Conference action.

The last three meetings with Lipscomb have been decided by a 4-3 margin, all going in favor for the Bison. The Eagles came out strong tonight; winning all three doubles matches to win the doubles point and won the first four singles matches.

“This was a great start to conference play and the guys played extremely well,” said head coach C.J. Weber. “I’m proud of the guys, the doubles point really helped build our confidence and the team took that confidence into singles play.”

FGCU moves to .500 at 6-6 on the season as Lipscomb drops to 3-7 on the year.

This marks the second-straight year the Green and Blue have won the opening match of conference play.

In doubles, sophomore Jordi Vives (Barcelona, Spain/IES Ferran Tallada/USC) and junior Dean Tsamas (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay HS) defeated Oliver Strecker and David Salazar, 8-2, in the No. 1 spot. In the No. 2 spot, the duo of s sophomore Tianyu Bao (Tianjin, China/Bayshore HS-FL) and freshman Dyaln Gunning (Baca Raton, Fla./Olympic Heights HS) defeated Stuart Tierney and Miquel Cortez, 8-6. Junior Lance Lvovsky (Dania, Fla./Broward Virtual School/Jacksonville) and senior Jackson Moore (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS/Georgia State) won the finals doubles match, as they defeated the team of Colby Shaw and Tanner Brown, 8-2, in the No. 3 spot.

In singles, Lvovsky took the first singles point for FGCU when he defeated Brown in a decisive 6-1, 6-2 straight set. The Green and Blue picked up its second singles point when Vives defeated Strecker 6-0, 6-2 in the top spot of singles play.

The Eagles picked up the match-clinching point when Moore defeated Tierney 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets. Bao rallied in the second set of his match to defeat Salazar 6-3, 7-6 (4). Tsamas went to the breaker to defeat Hernandez in the No. 3 spot, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. Gunning picked up the only loss for FGCU on the night, being defeated by Cortez 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.

As a team, the Green and Blue have gone a combined 17-5 over the last six matches.

FGCU will be back in action Saturday, beginning with a 6 p.m. home match against Northern Kentucky.

FGCU 1, Lipscomb 
Singles Results 
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 4, 2, 5, 3
1.  Jordi Vives (FGCU) def. Oliver Strecker (Lipscomb) – 6-2, 6-4
2. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) def. David Salazar (Lipscomb) – 6-4, 7-6(4)
3. Dean Tsamas (FGCU) def. David Hernandez (Lipscomb) – 6-1, 6-1
4. Jackson Moore (FGCU) def. Stuart Tierney (Lipscomb) -
5. Dylan Gunning (FGCU) def. Miguel Cortez (Lipscomb) – 6-1, 6-1
6. Lance Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Tanner Brown (Lipscomb) – 6-2, 3-6, 7-5

Doubles Results 
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
1. Vives/Tsamas (FGCU) def. Strecker/Salazar (Lipscomb) – 8-2
2. Bao/Gunning (FGCU) def. Tierney/Cortez (Lipscomb) – 8-6
3. Moore/Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Shaw/Brown (Lipscomb) 8-2