BLACKSBURG – The 32nd-ranked Virginia Tech men’s tennis team will open the 2016 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships on Saturday, May 14 at 10 a.m. against No. 20 Kentucky. Tech will travel to Columbus, Ohio where fifth-seeded Ohio State is hosting a regional site.
This marks the Hokies (17-8) 10th consecutive trip to the NCAAs and their second trip to Columbus this season as Tech faced OSU during the regular season, falling to the then-ranked 8th Buckeyes 4-0.
Tech’s seniors are familiar with their opening round opponent. The group traveled to Lexington, Kentucky in 2012 as freshmen to open that year’s NCAA Tournament. Virginia Tech fell to the Wildcats 4-1 in the second round match with Aaron Gomez picking up the point for the Hokies. Joao Monteiro, Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini also competed that season against the Wildcats.
Kentucky (19-9) has three seniors with Beck Pennington and Charles Minc having competed against Hokies in 2012. Gomez defeated Pennington on court six in that match while the match between Minc and former Tech player Hunter Koontz went unfinished at three.
Host team Ohio State (30-2) will play Tennesse Tech in the opening round, marking the first time the two teams have met. The Buckeyes faced both the Hokies and the Wildcats during the regular season.
Saturday, May 14
10:00 a.m. – Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech
1:00 p.m. – Ohio State vs. Tennessee Tech
Sunday, May 15
Noon – winning teams
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