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BLACKSBURG – The 33rd-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.

Joao Monteiro enters the weekend ranked 14th in the ITA singles standings and earned All-American status after being seeded in the top-16 for the upcoming NCAA Singles Championship. Andreas Bjerrehus is 77th in the ITA singles poll and will join Monteiro in Tulsa for the NCAA Doubles Championship with the duo ranked 21st.

Monteiro, who was recently named the ITA Atlantic Region Most Improved (Senior), is 15-6 in duals at the No. 1 while Bjerrehus is 11-5 at the two. The pair has tallied an 11-4 record in the one.

Edoardo Tessaro brings a 13-7 record in to the tournament and is ranked 77th in the ITA while fellow senior Amerigo Contini is 15-5 with a 10-4 tally at the three to be ranked 107th.

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. Monteiro, Bjerrehus and 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.

The Wildcats are led by William Bushamuka, ranked 29th, with a 16-8 record in duals, including 13-8 at the one. Ryotaro Matsamura was named the ITA Ohio Valley Region Rookie of the Year after posting an 18-7 record, including 14-7 in the No. 2. He enters the weekend ranked 42nd. Trey Yates is 12-10 while Austin Hussey is 10-4 on the season.

Host team Ohio State (30-2) will play Tennessee 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.

The Buckeyes has four players ranked in the ITA singles standings and are led by the nation’s top-ranked Mikael Torpegaard who has tallied a 21-0 record playing in the No. 1 spot. Hugo Di Feo is 45th with a 12-5 mark while Chris Diaz enters ranked 88th having posted a 7-7 tally in duals. Herkko Pollanen is 11-5 and ranked 103rd.

Pollanen and Torpegaard have teamed up in doubles to record an 11-4 record and are ranked at 22nd.

The winners of each first round match will advance to face each other on Sunday, May 15 at noon.

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