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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The 38th-ranked Virginia Tech men’s tennis team is set to open its road schedule on Friday, Jan. 23 when the Hokies travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face No. 36 Alabama on the opening day of the 2015 ITA Kickoff Weekend. Match time is set for 10 a.m.

In addition to the Hokies and Tide match, host team and seventh-ranked North Carolina will play No. 44 Oregon at 1:30 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

Virginia Tech (2-0) is coming off a two-match sweep during the opening weekend, having defeated both Coastal Carolina and James Madison with scores of 7-0.

Juniors Amerigo Contini and Andreas Bjerrehus enter the weekend ranked in the latest ITA singles standings. Contini is 35th while Bjererhus is tabbed 61st. Joining them in the rankings is sophomore Florian Nicoud at 94th.

Contini swept his matches, going 2-0 in the No. 1 during the first weekend. Bjerrehus was 1-0 while Nicoud went 2-0. Contini is 11-5 overall, including fall competition with Bjerrehus holding a 9-4 mark and Nicoud at 13-4.

Alabama (2-0) enters the weekend after claiming a 6-1 win over Samford and a 7-0 shutout of UAB last weekend to open the season. Becker O’Shaughnessy is the top returner for the Tide, having won All-America honors last season in doubles and was named to the All-SEC team. He entered the fall ranked 48th in singles, and went 4-5 during tournament play. He won both his matches in the No. 1 during the Tide’s opening weekend. Nikko Madregallejo also returns for Alabama after being named to the SEC All-Freshman team. He has tallied an 8-3 overall record so far this season and swept his matches during the opening weekend in the No. 3.

North Carolina (4-0) enters the kickoff weekend with Brayden Schnur as the top ranked player, coming in at No. 2 in the singles standings. Schnur has tallied a 13-0 record overall this season and is 2-0 in the No. 1 in duals so far this season. In addition, Ronnie Schneider is ranked for the Heels at 27th. He has posted a 13-5 overall record and has gone 2-0 in the No. 1 and 1-0 in the No. 2 in duals this spring.

Last season, the Heels picked up the 6-1 win over the Hokies in Chapel Hill. Joao Monteiro claimed the point for Tech. Contini and Schnur battled it out to three-sets in the No.1, with Contini winning the first, 6-4. The UNC player came back to take the second, 6-3 and pulled out a 6-4 win in the third.

Oregon (3-0) is coming off a 6-1 win over Loyola Marymount the last time out. The Ducks return eight players from a team that finished last season 17-10 and made the program’s first appearance at the NCAA Tournament in 10 years. Jayson Amos has a 10-3 overall record this season, while Daniel Sardu is 9-2. Kevin Farin has seen the most time in the No. 1 with a 2-0 record in duals.

The winner of the Virginia Tech versus Alabama match will face the winner of the North Carolina versus Oregon match on Saturday. The two losing teams will also play each other on Saturday.

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