JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - No. 71 North Florida men's tennis is preparing for a tough match against undefeated FGCU on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the UNF Tennis Courts. Prior to the match, the team will celebrate senior
Julian Bradley in his final home match.
The Ospreys are coming off a 3-0 weekend against Atlantic Sun foes in Lipscomb, Kennesaw State and NJIT. UNF is back in the national rankings at 71st and stands at 8-10 overall and 3-1 in A-Sun play. FGCU is currently undefeated in conference play and is on a five-match winning streak. The Eagles are coming off of back-to-back 6-1 wins against USC Upstate and NJIT.
The last time these teams met, FGCU beat UNF to win the Atlantic Sun Championship in 2015 and earn an NCAA automatic bid. In the last 10 meetings, the Ospreys own a 7-3 edge against the Eagles, but FGCU has the last two victories. The last time FGCU came to Jacksonville for a regular season match, UNF grabbed the 4-3 victory.
Sophomore
Lasse Muscheites is currently undefeated in the No. 2 spot with a 7-0 mark and is 11-7 in dual matches overall.
Jack Findel-Hawkins, who ranks 123rd in singles, returned to the line up in the No. 1 position and notched two conference victories for the first time in his career, while senior
Julian Bradley was 3-0 on the weekend and has six dual match wins. The Ospreys have had to move around their doubles line up due to injuries and they have faired well. Findel-Hawkins and Bradley paired up at the No. 1 spot, while freshmen
Sahil Deshmukh and
Jonathan Deautriell moved to the No. 2 spot. Muscheites and
Andrey Alawi paired up in the No. 3 spot and grabbed two wins.
For FGCU, five different players have 10 or more wins in dual matches, while two of those players are 4-0 in league action. Javier Fernandez is undefeated and had played at the No. 4 through 6 positions. Oliver Landert is also unbeaten in A-Sun play and is on a seven-match win streak. Landert pairs up with Eduardo Alfonzo in the No. 3 doubles spot with a 5-3 mark including a 3-0 record in league action.
After the facing FGCU, North Florida has one final conference match against Stetson on Saturday, April 16 in DeLand, Fla.
