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 15-8 squad that finished with a No. 27 national ranking and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
Tech will have a busy fall season, which opened Sept. 11-13, with several members of the team playing in the Landfall Invitational Wilmington, N.C. The Hokies conclude the month Sept. 24-26, at the UVa Ranked Plus One event.
In October, several members of the team will participate in the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla., Oct. 2-7, followed by the highlight of the fall schedule, the ITA Atlantic Regionals, Oct. 23-26 in Norfolk, Va. The fall schedule concludes with the Hokies hosting the Virginia Tech Challenge (Nov. 8-10). The final individual tournament will take place Jan. 22-24 at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center when Tech hosts the Hokie Challenge.
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 ten 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 2009 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championship.
The dual-match season opens with the Hokies hosting Kentucky before participating in the ITA National Indoor Championships. The first- and second rounds will be held Jan. 29-30 with the Hokies facing Illinois in the Champaign, Ill. Regional. Boise State plays Washington in the other first round match. The February home slate will include matches against Rice and Virginia. In March, the Hokies will host Nebraska, Maryland, Florida State and Miami and conclude the home schedule in April with matches versus Virginia Commonwealth and Wake Forest. Tech was 8-1 at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center last year and has a 82-24 (.774) record at home the last nine years.
The Hokies will face road matches against Boston College, Brown, Southern Methodist (in Richmond, Va.), Maryland, Louisville, Duke, North Carolina, Clemson and Georgia Tech. The ACC Championships will be held April 22-25 in Cary, N.C.
“Our schedule is by far the toughest one we have ever faced,” said Virginia Tech men’s tennis coach Jim Thompson. “I am very excited about the challenge and opportunity that lies ahead for this year’s squad and I feel we are ready to step up and have a great season.”