TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The 14th-ranked Virginia Tech men’s tennis team wrapped up the regular season, defeating No. 32 Florida State 4-3 on Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee, Florida.
Tech improves to 19-3 overall and 10-2 in the ACC, earning the No. 2 seed for this week’s ACC Men’s Tennis Championship, giving the Hokies a first round bye into the quarterfinals. This marks the highest finish for the Hokies since joining the league 10 years ago.
The Hokies fell behind early, giving up the doubles point to the Seminoles (18-9, 6-6 ACC), but Tech’s 63rd-ranked Andreas Bjerrehus and Hunter Koontz defeated 13th-ranked Benjamin Lock and Marco Nunez, 8-4 in the No. 1.
Tech tied it up in the first singles match as 110th-ranked Joao Monteiro defeated Nunez 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 3. The Hokies took a 2-1 lead with 103rd-ranked Koontz’s win over Christian Gonzalez Mendez, 6-2, 6-0 on court four.
Florida State tied it back up with Terrell Whitehurst claiming a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Jai Corbett in the No. 6. The Seminoles retook the lead in the No. 1 where FSU’s 98th-ranked Lock held off 38th-ranked Bjerrehus 6-2, 7-5.
Edoardo Tessaro battled Jose Gracia in the No. 5 as the two went to three sets. After dropping the first set 6-4, Tessaro came back to win the next two 6-3, 6-2 to knot the match at 3-3.
The deciding point came down to court two where the Hokies 68th-ranked Amerigo Contini squared off against 95th-ranked Michael Rinaldi. Contini trailed Rinaldi at 4-3 in the opening set, but responded by winning three straight games to take it 6-4. In the second set, Contini rolled to a 6-2 win to clinch the win for the Hokies.
The league office will announce standings for the ACC Men’s Tennis Championship later this evening, but the Hokies will take the court on Friday, April 24 at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. Tech is slated to face the winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 10 match which will be played on Thursday.
Singles
1. #98 Benjamin Lock (FSU) def. #38 Andreas Bjerrehus (VT) 6-2, 7-5
2. #68 Amerigo Contini (VT) def. #95 Michael Rinaldi (FSU) 6-4, 6-2
3. #110 Joao Monteiro (VT) def. Marco Nunez (FSU) 6-2, 6-0
4. #103 Hunter Koontz (VT) def. Cristian Gonzalez Mendez (FSU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Edoardo Tessaro (VT) def. Jose Gracia (FSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Terrell Whitehurst (FSU) def. Jai Corbett (VT) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 3,4,6,1,5,2
Doubles
1. #63 Bjerrehus/Koontz (VT) def. #13 Lock/Nunez (FSU) 8-4
2. Mendez/Gracia (FSU) def. Contini/Corbett (VT) 8-3
3. Terrance Whitehurst/Whitehurst (FSU)/Monteiro/Tessaro (VT) 8-7(4)
Order of finish: 2,1,3
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