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BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's tennis team received a No. 28 national ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason poll. The ranking is the highest preseason ranking in the program’s history. Tech had a singles player and a doubles team ranked among the nation’s elite.

The Tech duo of Nicolas Delgado de Robles (Sr., Madrid, Spain)/Luka Somen (Fr., Karlovac, Croatia) received a No. 20 national doubles ranking and were ranked ninth in the Mideast Region. Pedro Graber (Jr., Santiago, Chile) was ranked No. 101 in the national singles and tenth in the region. Graber is joined in the region rankings by Delgado de Robles at No. 16 and Yoann Re (Jr., Verdun, Quebec, Canada) at No. 25.

The Hokies concluded the 2007-08 season with a 16-9 mark and advanced to the NCAA Championship tournament for the second consecutive year. Tech finished the season with a No. 28 national ranking and was the fourth ranked team in the Mideast Region. The Hokies return six players from last year and will feature three seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and five freshmen.

The preseason national poll includes 11 of the 12 ACC teams: No. 5 Virginia, No. 11 Florida State, No. 17 Miami, No. 20 North Carolina, No. 26 Wake Forest, No. 28 Virginia Tech, No. 35 Duke, No. 49 NC State, No. 58 Georgia Tech, No. 61 Clemson and No. 72 Maryland.

The Hokies will participate in their final individual tournament of the season, Jan. 23-25, at the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Ala.. Tech opens the dual match season on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 when the Hokies travel to Columbus, Ohio for the 1st- and 2nd rounds of the ITA National Indoor. Tech faces No. 42 New Mexico in the first round while Stetson faces No. 1 Ohio State.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_MTennis).