Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's tennis team will open play in the 2008NCAA Tournament on Sat., May 10, when the No. 30 Hokies face No. 37 Kentucky (12-15) in the first round at 2 p.m. The first and second round matches will be played at the Varsity Tennis Courts and are hosted by the University of Tennessee.
Tech's Albert Larregola (Sr., Lleida, Spain), ranked No. 45 nationally in singles, will lead the Hokies into the first round. Larregola received a bid on Wednesday to participate in the NCAA singles and doubles tournment, May 22-26, in Tulsa, Okla. Larregola, along with teammate Nicolas Delgado de Robles (Jr., Madrid, Spain), were named to the All-ACC team. Delgado de Robles posted a 24-14 singles mark during the regular season while Larregola was a finalist at the Wilson/ITA Mideast Region tournament in the fall and advanced to the Round of 16 at the ITA National Indoor Championship.
The Wildcats feature a couple of nationally-ranked singles player in Bruno Agostinelli, ranked No. 20, and 116th-ranked Will Ward. Kentucky also has one ranked doubles team in Agostinelli/Brad Cox who are ranked 22nd nationally.
Eighth-ranked Tennessee (21-3) faces No. 69 Furman (16-10) in the other first round match Saturday at 11 a.m. with the two winners advancing to the Sun., May 11, second round contest at 2 p.m. The Knoxville regional is one of 16 in the 64-team event with regional winners advancing to the NCAA Championship Finals in Tulsa, Okla., May 16-21. The individual singles and doubles competition will follow team competition on May 22-26.
Tech (15-8), defeated then No. 69 Clemson, 4-3, in the first round of the 2008 ACC Championships in Altamonte Springs, Fla. before being eliminated by No. 28 Wake Forest, 4-2. The Hokies faced one of the toughest schedules in the program's history including 18 ranked teams and four Top 25 programs. This season's bid is the eighth in the program's history as Tech made five consecutive NCAA appearances by winning the Atlantic 10 championship every year while in the league with the most recent appearance occurring last season.
In 2007, Tech traveled to Charlottesville, Va. to face No. 30 Old Dominion, with the Hokies suffering a narrow 4-3 loss.