March 22, 2012
Hokies travel south to face No. 20 UNC and No. 6 Duke
Tech will wrap up four match road swing over the weekend

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 68 Virginia Tech men’s tennis team will remain on the road to play No. 20 North Carolina and No. 6 Duke. Tech will face Carolina on Friday, March 23 at 3 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center before making the short trip to play No. 6 Duke on Sunday, March 25 at 1 p.m. in Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The Hokies (6-6, 2-1 ACC) were edged by No. 40 Louisville, 4-3 in the team’s last outing. Tech swept the doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead, but was unable to overcome the Cards in singles. No. 84 Luka Somen and Corrado Degl’ Incerti Tocci scored singles points for the Hokies. The duo is also ranked in the ITA doubles standings at No. 47. Joining Somen in the singles standings is Lucas Oliveira at No. 89.

Somen has tallied a 7-4 mark playing in the No. 1 singles. Tocci along with Mauricio Antun and Trpimir Kujundzic all have 6-5 marks in dual play. Oliveira and Patrick Daciek are 5-6.

UNC (6-4, 3-0 ACC) defeated NC State, 5-2 the last time out. After winning two of three doubles matches to claim the point, the Tar Heels’ Brennan Boyajian, Esben Hess-Olesen, Joey Burkhardt and William Parker notched singles wins for the team victory.

The Tar Heels have a trio of players ranked in the ITA standings with Jose Hernandez at No. 34, Boyajian (No. 90) and Hess-Olsen (No. 98). Boyajian is also ranked at No. 44 in doubles with partner Oystein Steiro while the duo of Burkhardt and Hernandez are No. 73.

Duke (13-2, 2-0 ACC) is coming off a 6-1 win against Wake Forest. The Blue Devils won two of three doubles and five singles matches in the win.

Leading Duke is Henrique Cunha who is currently No. 3 in the ITA standings and has a 12-1 record in the No. 1 singles. Joining Cunha in the rankings is Chris Mengel at No. 18. The duo is also ranked doubles at No. 62.

The Hokies will return to Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center for a pair of matches next weekend. Tech will host NC State on Friday, March 30 and Wake Forest on Sunday, April 1.

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

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