April 16, 2010
Busy final weekend awaits Tech
Hokies conclude regular season with three matches

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team will have a busy final weekend of the 2010 regular season hosting No. 8 Clemson, No. 25 Georgia Tech and Liberty. Tech will host the Tigers on Saturday in a noon match, before playing the Yellow Jackets and Flames on Sunday at noon and 5 p.m., respectively.

The Hokies (9-10, 2-7) have dropped seven consecutive ACC matches with every opponent ranked among the top-50 teams in the nation. Tech lost road matches last weekend against No. 50 Wake Forest (3-4) and No. 32 NC State (1-6). Freshman Emily Lauten (Marietta, Ga.) leads the team in singles victories (20) and Holly Johnson (Jr., Tallahassee, Fla.) has compiled a 5-3 ACC dual-match singles record. Yasmin Hamza (Jr., Cairo, Egypt) and Johnson are ranked No. 63 nationally in doubles.

Clemson (19-4, 7-2) has won eight of the its last nine matches and split two matches last week on the road dropping a narrow, 4-3, decision at North Carolina before rebounding with a win, 4-3, at Duke. The Clemson line-up features four nationally ranked players including No. 19 Josipa Bek, No. 71 Keri Wong, No. 89 Nelly Ciolkowski and No. 102 Ina Hadziselimovic. Bek/Hadziselimovic are ranked No. 9 nationally in doubles, while Hadziselimovic has also paired with Wong to earn a No. 27 ranking. Clemson defeated Tech, 5-2, last year in Clemson, S.C.

Georgia Tech (13-8, 4-4) also split two matches last week on Tobacco Road winning, 4-3, at Duke but then lost, 2-5, at North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets feature the nation’s top player, Irina Falconi, who is 8-0 in ACC contests. Falconi has teamed with Sasha Krupina to be ranked No. 25 in doubles and has also paired with Amanda McDowell to earn a No. 64 ranking. The Hokies lost, 7-0, last year in Atlanta, Ga., to the Yellow Jackets.

Liberty (5-13) will host Winthrop on Saturday prior to visiting Tech on Sunday afternoon. The match was orginally scheduled for Feb. 7, but was postponed due to heavy snow. The Hokies defeated the Flames, 7-0, last year at home.

Following this weekend’s action, Tech will head to Cary, N.C., for the 2010 ACC Championship. Action begins with first-round matches on Thursday, April 22, with the top four seeds playing their first contests on Friday, April 23. The event concludes on Sunday, April 25, with both the men’s and women’s championship matches.



For updates on Virginia Tech women's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_WTennis).

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