BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech men's tennis team opens the ACC slate on the road, traveling to No. 6 North Carolina on Friday, March 2 followed by a Sunday, March 4 match at No. 10 Duke.
MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: March 2, 2018 / 12:30 p.m.
Opponent: #6 North Carolina
Site: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Date/Time: March 4, 2018 / 1 p.m.
Opponent: #10 Duke
Site: Durham, N.C.
Live Scoring: GoDuke.com
THE HOKIES (9-1, 0-0 ACC)
Virginia Tech gave up just two points last weekend in the final non-conference doubleheader of the season. The Hokies downed both Gardner-Webb and Davison with scores of 6-1. Alex Ribeiro, Carlo Donato and Freddy Mesmer all won two on Sunday to help the Hokies to the win. Tech is being led on the season by 29th ranked Mitch Harper and No. 117 Jason Kros. Harper is also ranked in doubles with teammate Henrik Korsgaard at 20th.
Ribeiro is 9-0 this spring while Donato is 8-0. Kros is 7-1 while Harper is adding a 5-1 clip.
THE TAR HEELS (9-2, 0-0 ACC)
North Carolina swept past North Carolina A&T on Tuesday, defeating the Aggies 7-0. The Tar Heels won five of the six singles matches in straight sets. UNC's William Blumberg is the top-ranked player in the nation with a 3-2 record. Benjamin Siguoin is 44th and Robert Kelly is No. 105. Blumberg and Kelly are ranked sixth in the doubles standings.
Siguoin is 5-1 on the season while Kelly is adding a 4-3 mark.
THE BLUE DEVILS (9-4, 0-0 ACC)
Duke will face No. 8 Michigan before taking on the Hokies, but the Blue Devils swept Furman and Coastal Carolina, 4-0 in a doubleheader last weekend. Nick Stachowiak and Robert Levine won two for the Blue Devils on the day. Nicolas Alvarez is ranked 32nd in the ITA standings with Catalin Mateas coming in at 92nd.
Alvarez is 4-0 on the spring while Stachowiak is adding an 8-2 clip. Mateas is 2-2.
THE SERIES
The Hokies are 4-24 all-time against UNC and 5-24 against the Blue Devils, but have picked up wins over both in recent seasons, including wins over both in 2015. Last year the Hokies were edged by then-ranked No. 4 North Carolina, 4-3. Harper, Korsgaard and Mesmer took singles wins for the Hokies in the match. Duke won last season 6-1 with Mesmer securing the point for Tech.
UP NEXT: The Hokies return home to host Wake Forest on Friday, March 16 at 2 p.m. followed by a home match versus NC State on March 18 at 2 p.m.