FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Stetson Hatters' tournament run fell just short as they dropped the ASUN Championship Final to the #1 North Florida Ospreys, 4-0 at the FGCU Tennis Complex in Fort Myers on Sunday afternoon. The two sides clashed in a fiercely contested doubles showdown, each vying for the pivotal opening point. Despite initially trailing 1-0, the action intensified on courts #2 and #3, with both matches extending to dramatic tiebreakers. Amidst the tension, Eder Blanco and Ervin Haris Eminefendic displayed resilience, securing a hard-fought victory on #3. However, the battle on court #2 saw Lucas Olivier and Riccardo Baldo narrowly fall shy of a victory, tipping the scales in favor of UNF as they seized the advantage heading into the singles matches.

The intensity extended into singles play with three of the first sets going into a tiebreaker. Despite Olivier, Tim Gennes and Sami Ozzor all taking their first sets, the Ospreys would take matches on courts #2, #3 and #5 before the Hatters could mount a point.

In his final ASUN Championship appearance, Gennes was named to the All-Tournament team after winning both of his singles matches in the Quarterfinal and Semifinal.

While it wasn't the outcome that the men's team had hoped for, a title will be coming back to DeLand as the women's team defeated #6 FGCU 4-1 in their Finals match. It earns the women an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament while the men may still continue postseason play in the NIT.

Doubles:
#1: Jonas Hartenstein / Rodrigo Crespo [UNF] def. Saura, Marc / Rodriguez Garceran, Juan Jose [STET] 6-2
#2: Patrick Kotan / Juan Pablo Cenoz [UNF] def. Baldi, Riccardo / Olivier, Lucas [STET] 7⁷-6⁵
#3: Blanco, Eder / Haris Eminefendic, Ervin [STET] def. Breno Marques / Andres Scott [UNF] 7⁷-6⁴
 Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles:
#1: Olivier, Lucas [STET] vs. Jonas Hartenstein 6-2, 3-6, 0-1 UF
#2: Rodrigo Crespo [UNF] def. Haris Eminefendic, Ervin [STET] 7⁷-6¹, 6-4
#3:  Juan Pablo Cenoz [UNF] def. Blanco, Eder [STET] 7-5, 6-4
#4: Gennes, Tim [STET] vs. Patrick Kotan [UNF] 7⁷-6³, 1-6, 0-0 UF
#5:  Andreas Scott [UNF] def. Saura, Marc [STET] 6-2, 6-2
#6: Ozzor, Sami [STET] vs. Chase Healey [UNF] 7⁷-6², 4-3 UF
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 2

WORDS FROM COACH:
"I think that doubles point was crucial, obviously, since he was two points away could've gone one way or another. I think that gave UNF some momentum but I still thought we fought very hard into the singles, I just wish some of the singles would've gone our way a bit quicker to give us a boost but UNF was tough," said Head Coach Christophe Noblet. "For us, having played a quarterfinal round made it a little extra hard but we knew that, it's no excuse, so again credit to UNF, they played tough and we played tough. Very proud of the guys for the season, we started not knowing how good we could be and we finished knowing we're a very good team. I'm proud of the guys for the journey and proud of them for learning so much and we'll do it again next year and do it better."

UP NEXT:
While the Finals loss marks the end of the ASUN Championship, the Hatters still hold hope to continue postseason play as they seek an invite to the NIT Championship.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS.

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