FORT MYERS, Fla. – Coming off an historic 2014-15 season, FGCU men's tennis welcomes every Division I program in Florida to the FGCU Tennis Complex for the three-day Bedford Cup. The traveling tournament makes its way to Fort Myers for the first time in its history.
Action begins Friday, Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. as all four singles draws and two doubles draws are scheduled to be in action throughout the day. The Bedford Cup continues Saturday, Sept. 26 at 9 a.m. with the champions set to be crowned Sunday, Sept. 27.
FGCU welcomes Florida, Florida State, Miami, UNF, FAU, Stetson, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, UCF and USF to Fort Myers for the weekend of tennis.
The Bedford Cup began in 2011 and has been hosted by USF, Florida, Florida State and UNF. Last year, UNF's Jack Findel Hawkins won the top-flight singles competition. Sponsored by the Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida, the Bedford Cup is an annual traveling tournament, bringing together every Division I program in Florida.
Andres Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Texas Christian University) won the Gray Consolation bracket in last year's tournament.
Head coach
CJ Weber returns seven players from last year's A-Sun regular season and conference tournament winning team, including First Team All-Conference selection
Ricky Ventura (Barcelona, Spain/University of Barcelona) and Second Team selections
Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS) and
Eduardo Alfonzo (Hollywood, Fla./Barry University). Alfonzo and Ventura were also named to the All-Tournament Team, with Ventura taking MVP honors.
Also returning for the Eagles is
Lucas Vaz (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Fleming/Tulsa), who joined Ventura in doubles action to post an 11-4 record.
Andres Alfonzo begins his second season as an Eagle after transferring from TCU. Andres was named the A-Sun Player of the Week early in the spring season in 2015 and wrapped up his first year at FGCU with an 8-8 singles record and a 9-4 record in doubles.
Chris Perrigan (Tallahassee, Fla./Maclay HS) finished the season 7-6 and
Sam Chaffin (Tampa, Fla./Wharton HS) was 4-9 in his freshman season.
The lone newcomer for FGCU in the fall is
Oliver Landert (Naples, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida). The Naples native played one season at Florida, reaching the USTA/ITA singles semifinals and finding himself ranked as high as No. 43 in doubles play. Landert was a five-star prospect according to TennisRecruiting.net.
Entering his fifth season in charge of the FGCU men's tennis program after earning A-Sun Coach of the Year and Southeast Region Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year honors, Weber led FGCU to a top-75 ranking to end the year and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament where the Eagles faced UCLA. The Green and Blue finished the year 16-9 overall with a perfect 6-0 record in the A-Sun.
SCHEDULE OF COMPETITIONSingles A:
Andres Alfonzo vs. Jesse Flores (Miami) – 9:00 a.m.
Eduardo Alfonzo vs. Romain Boudaroua (FAU) – 10:30 a.m.
Ricky Ventura vs. Jake Albo (FSU) – 9:00 a.m.
Singles B:
Chris Perrigan vs. Coilin MacNamara (Stetson) – 10:30 a.m.
Lucas Vaz vs. Ignacio Jimenez (FAU) – 9:00 a.m.
Sam Chaffin vs. Jalen Evans (FAMU) – 12:00 p.m.
Doubles A:
A. Alfonzo/Vaz vs. Albo/Haffey (FSU) – 4:00 p.m.
Doubles B:
Chaffin/Ventura vs. De Fraia/Thiessen (UCF) – 4:30 p.m.
E. Alfonzo/Perrigna vs. Barrera/Lopez (B-CU) – 4:30 p.m.
UP NEXTFollowing the Bedford Cup, FGCU travels to Gainesville for the ITA Southeast Regional Championships beginning Friday, Oct. 16.
FOLLOW ALONGFor complete coverage of FGCU men's tennis follow us on Twitter @FGCU_MTEN and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of each day of competition.
CJ WEBERFGCU is led by
CJ Weber has coached 16 A-Sun All-Conference selections since joining the Green and Blue in 2011. In 2014-15, Weber guided the Eagles to their first-ever Atlantic Sun Championship and first-ever Atlantic Sun Regular Season Title after a program-best 17 wins. In his third season, Weber lead
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.
#FEEDFGCUFGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year 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.
