BLACKSBURG, Va. - Another challenging schedule awaits this year’s edition of the Virginia Tech men’s tennis team. The Hokies return eight players from last year’s 16-9 squad that finished with a No. 28 national ranking and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
Tech will have a busy fall season, which opens Sept. 13-15 at the Virginia Fall Invitational in Charlottesville. On Sept. 19-21, the Hokies will split to participate in both the Southern Intercollegiates in Athens, Ga., and the Steve Baras Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn.
In October, several members of the team will participate in the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla., Oct. 3-12, followed by the highlight of the fall schedule, the ITA Mideast Regionals, Oct. 16-21 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The fall schedule concludes with the Crimson Tide Fall Invitational (Oct. 24-26) in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The final individual tournament will take place Jan. 23-25 at the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Ala.
“Our fall schedule will be very exciting and challenging,” said Tech head coach Jim Thompson. “We are playing in some great tournament, which should prepare our guys for the competitive ACC schedule. I think we have a solid team this year and the fall season will be very important for us to continue to improve in order for us to advance deeper in the NCAA tournament this year.”
Once again, the Hokies will face a very difficult dual-match schedule in the spring, featuring 18 teams ranked in the final Top-75 poll last season. The Atlantic Coast Conference, featuring 11 nationally-ranked teams last season, will prove to be a tremendous challenge for Tech this season. In fact, seven of the 12 ACC schools were selected to compete in the 2007 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championship.
The dual-match season opens with the Hokies participating in the ITA National Indoor Championships. The first- and second rounds will be held Jan. 31-Feb.1 with the Hokies facing New Mexico in the Columbus, Ohio Regional. The host Buckeyes play Stetson in the other first round match. The February home slate will include matches against the College of Charleston, St. Bonaventure, Boston College and Brown. In March, the Hokies will host Louisville, Georgia Tech and Clemson and conclude the home schedule in April with matches versus North Carolina and Duke. Tech was 9-3 at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center last year and has a 74-23 (.763) record at home the last eight years.
The Hokies will face road matches against Penn State, Virginia, Maryland, TCU, Baylor, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Commonwealth, NC State and Wake Forest. The ACC Championships will be held April 16-19 in Cary, N.C.
“Our schedule continues to improve each year which helps us attract players who really want to improve and possibly have professional careers,” said Thompson. “The most exciting addition to the schedule is the expansion of the National Indoor Championships. We are excited to open the season in Columbus, Ohio playing New Mexico. In addition to the National Indoor, our spring break trip will prove to be a very good challenge as we will take on Louisville, TCU and Baylor. The ACC continues to improve each year, and that portion of the schedule will provide the same challenge as in years past."