Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. - The 38th-ranked Virginia Tech men’s tennis team will open its spring slate on Sunday, Jan. 19 with a doubleheader at the Burleson-Burrows Tennis Center in Blacksburg. Tech will open the day with a 10 a.m. match against 59th-ranked Yale followed by a 3 p.m. match against Davidson.
The Hokies enter the season ranked 38th in the nation and have three players who appear in the national rankings. Sophomores Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini are ranked in both singles and doubles. Contini is ranked 28th after defeating three ranked opponents in the fall, including 6th-ranked Marcos Giron of UCLA in the ITA Men’s All American tournament. Bjerrehus, who won his flight at the UVA Ranked+1 tournament, is ranked 60th. Sophomore Aaron Gomez is ranked 122nd after going 6-4 in fall tournaments.
Bjerrehus and Contoni enter the season ranked 23rd in doubles. In the fall, Bjerrehus and Contini were runners-up at the ITA Atlantic Regional and scored an impressive win over the 14th-ranked doubles team at the ITA National Indoor Championships. Bjerrehus is also ranked in doubles with Hunter Koontz, the pair clock in at 49th.
Also returning for Tech this season are Joao Monteiro, Rafael Ribas, and Nic Wilson.
Koontz posted an overall record last season of 25-14 in singles and went 4-7 during the fall tournament season. Monteiro was 12-5 in 2012-13 and recorded an 8-6 fall tournament record. Ribas posted a 5-8 record in the fall after sitting out the 2012-13 season. Wilson also went 5-8 during fall tournaments after redshirting last year.
Tech’s newcomers include Jai Corbett, who went 6-6 in the fall, and Florian Nicoud, who put together a 7-4 record in fall tournaments. The duo also combined to go 6-4 in doubles during the fall and reached the semifinals in the ITA Atlantic Regional.
Yale finished the 2012-13 season ranked 57th, their second-best finish in school history. The Bulldogs enter this season ranked 59th. Davidson, where Tech head coach Jim Thompson graduated from, enters the season unranked and looks to improve on their 12-9 record from a season ago.
Following the opening weekend, the Hokies will be back on the court, January 25-26 in the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Tulsa, Ok.