Tech makes third consecutive trip to NCAA Tournament

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech men’s tennis team will return to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year on Fri., May 8, when the No. 26 Hokies travel to Athens, Ga., to play UNC Wilmington in the opening round of the tournament. The first and second round matches will be played at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex and are hosted by the Georgia Bulldogs.

“We are very excited about getting a bid to the NCAA tournament again this year,” said Virginia Tech head coach Jim Thompson. “It has been our goal all year to return to the NCAA tournament and it is very satisfying to see our guys achieve such a great thing. I know if each guy performs his best, great things can happen for the Hokies. It is going to be a great week of practice and a very exciting first round match with UNC Wilmington.”

Tech (14-7), defeated Maryland, 4-0, in the first round of the 2009 ACC Championships in Cary, N.C. before being eliminated by No. 20 Wake Forest, 4-3. The Hokies faced one of the toughest schedules in the program’s history including 16 ranked teams and seven Top 25 programs. This season’s bid is the ninth in the program’s history as Tech made five consecutive NCAA appearances by winning the Atlantic 10 championship every year while in the league.

Last year Tech defeated No. 31 Kentucky, 4-0, in the first round in Knoxville, Tenn. before begin eliminated by No. 8 Tennessee. In 2007, Tech traveled to Charlottesville, Va. to face No. 30 Old Dominion, with the Hokies suffering a narrow 4-3 loss.

Tech is led by All-ACC selection Yoann Re (Jr., Verdun, Quebec Canada), ranked No. 56 in the most recent ITA national list, who has defeated two top ten players this season en route to winning 19 singles matches. Re has been out of the Hokie lineup since suffering an injury on Mar. 29 at Miami but is expected back for the NCAA Championships.

The Hokies also feature ACC Freshman of the Year Luka Somen (Karlovac, Croatia) who led the team with 24 singles victories and Nicolas Delgado de Robles (Sr., Madrid, Spain) who has recorded 83 singles wins in his career.