Hokies open spring season at ITA Kickoff

Tech faces San Diego in first match

January 27, 2017

BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech men’s tennis team is set to open the 2017 spring dual season on Saturday, Jan. 28 in the ITA Kickoff Weekend hosted by USC. Tech will face San Diego on the first day in a 1 p.m. ET match in Los Angeles, California.

The Hokies and Toreros are joined by host team No. 8 USC and ETSU. The Trojans and Buccaneers will play at 4 p.m. ET. Winners of the Saturday’s matches will advance to a championship game on Sunday while the other two teams will play in a consolation contest.

Tech is facing a bit of a rebuilding year this season as the Hokies graduated six seniors last year including the top four of the singles’ lineup. The Hokies return Jai Corbett who posted a 12-6 overall tally last year with an 8-1 record when playing in the No. 3-5 spots. Also back from the lineup is Mitch Harper who went 13-11 in the spring with an 8-7 clip at No. 5.

The Hokies added three newcomers in the offseason with Abraham Asaba, Henrik Korsgaard, Alexandre Ribeiro and Feliksas Sakalauskas joining the team. Korsgaard and Ribeiro saw action for Tech in the fall tournaments. Ribeiro paired up with Corbett to claimed second place in doubles at the ITA Atlantic Regional while Korsgaard won his singles flight at the Wake Forest Invitational.

Tech’s first day opponent, San Diego, was tabbed No. 2 in the West Coast Conference preseason poll. The Toreros return Filip Vittek who was selected to the preseason all-conference team after earning All-WCC honors for the past three seasons. He was ranked 107th in the fall ITA singles standings. San Diego defeated Utah State 6-1 last weekend to open the season.

USC is already 3-0 on the young season with four players ranked in the ITA singles. Brandon Holt leads the way in 20th, Logan Smith – 28th, Nick Crystal – 88th and Thibault Forget – 114th. Smith and Forget are also ranked in doubles at 35th. The Trojans advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen last season before falling to seventh-seeded Georgia.

ETSU has opened the season with an 0-2 record after facing No. 2 Wake Forest and Alabama David Biosca and Diego Nunez are ranked in the ITA standings at 43rd and 65th, respectively. Robert Herrera is off to a strong start as well, having upset Wake’s 21st-ranked Christian Seraphim. Herrara also paired up with Nunez to knock off Alabama’s No. 32 doubles team.

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