BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 50 ranked Virginia Tech men’s tennis team will face No. 1 Southern California on Friday, March 9 at Marks Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. Match time is slated for 6 p.m. ET.
The Hokies (6-4) went 2-1 last weekend, shutting out James Madison and St. Bonnaventure and falling a tough 4-3 match against No. 48 Minnesota. Tech’s No. 68 Luka Somen went 2-0 in the matches in the No. 1 while Patrick Daciek picked up a win in the No. 1 against the Bonnies. No. 77 Lucas Oliveira had a 1-1 mark on the weekend.
Somen has compiled a 6-3 mark in the No. 1 on the season. Oliveira is 5-3 in the No. 2 while Daciek is 4-3 in the No. 3. Trpimir Kujundzic and Mauricio Antun are 6-3 in duals, appearing primarily in the No. 6 and No. 4 singles, respectively. Corrado Degl’ Incerti Tocci is 5-4 on the season. Tocci and Somen are ranked No. 44 in the most recent ITA doubles standings.
The No. 1 Trojans (14-0) are led by five players ranked in the top-40 in singles. USC picked up a 6-1 win over No. 3 UCLA the last time out. Steven Johnson is currently No. 5 in the ITA singles standings and is the defending NCAA Singles Champion. Joining him in the rankings are Daniel Nguyen (#15), Ray Sarmiento (#22), Emilio Gomez (#32), Yannick Hanfmann (#38) and Roberto Quiroz (#124). USC also has two doubles tandems ranked with Hanfmann and Johnson at No. 6 and Nguyen and Sarmiento at No. 49.
Following Friday’s match, the Hokies will have a few days off before returning to competition on Saturday, March 17 at Louisville.
For updates on Virginia Tech men's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_MTennis).