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TULSA, Okla. – Virginia Tech senior Joao Monteiro trailed 3-0 in the third set, but rallied for the win to make Hokies history on Saturday afternoon, advancing into the Final Four at the 2016 NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Monteiro defeated the nation’s fourth-ranked player in Illionois’ Aleks Vukic in exciting fashion in the quarterfinal round in Tulsa. After Monteiro claimed the opening set 6-3, the two players kept it close in the second and were tied at 5-5 before the Illini player tallied the last two points to secure the set 7-5 and force the third.

In the final set, Monteiro fell behind 3-0, but scored the next two to close it to 3-2. Vukic pushed the lead as he scored on his serve, but Monteiro answered in kind. With the final point on the line, Monteiro trailed 4-5 with Vukic on serve. The Tech senior was able to break, tying it up at 5-5.

The pair was again tied at 6-6, forcing the tiebreaker to decide the match where Monteiro got out to the early lead and secured it 7-3.

This marks the first Tech player to make the NCAA semifinals in program history. Oliver Mayo made the quarterfinals in 1996.

Monteiro will face UCLA’s 6th-ranked Mackenzie McDonald in the semifinals on Sunday.

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