Virginia Tech men’s tennis opens NCAA Championship with win, will play South Florida
Hosting two opening rounds of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center, Blacksburg was the center of the action
.
Starting play in the opening game of the day, the 15-15 Boise State Broncos played against the 21-6 South Florida Bulls. Both teams were on five-game winning streaks, including each winning their respective conference’s championship.
The Bulls continued their hot streak throughout the match, winning 4-0 and going undefeated in finished singles games. They will move on to face the winner of game two.
Later in the day, No. 15 Virginia Tech, 19-4, stepped on the court to play the 17-7 East Tennessee State University Buccaneers.
Like the teams in the first game, the Bucs entered on a winning streak and also won their conference championship.
Yet more impressive was the length of East Tennessee State’s winning streak. Having gone 16-1 since Feb. 14, they then won 13 straight.
Virginia Tech was also on a four-game winning streak before its upset 4-3 loss last week in the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech.
A bit shaky as doubles play opened, the Hokies lost the first completed team match of the afternoon 8-1.
However the duo of Andreas Bjerrehus and Hunter Koontz quickly rebounded for the Hokies, winning the second completed match, 8-2. Following that, the pair Joao Monteiro and Edoardo Tessaro captured the final doubles match 8-5.
Team play was done and by winning the majority of games, Virginia Tech was up 1-0.
Virginia Tech took a 2-0 lead, as its No. 1 singles player (and the International Tennis Associations’ No. 43 Best Singles Player) Andreas Bjerrehus won his match, 6-2 in the first set and 6-3 in the second.
Joao Monteiro got the Hokies one step closer to moving on in the tournament, defeating his opponent by scores 6-3, 6-3.
Virginia Tech then only needed one more singles win to advance.
ETSU’s David Biosca won over Tech’s Amerigo Contini 7-5, 6-2 and earned the Bucs their first point. It was 3-1.
However, senior and Virginia native Hunter Koontz capped off the Hokies’ victory for the day, defeating Sebastian Yllera 6-1, 3-6 and 6-2 in three sets.
“I fought hard,” Koontz said. “It felt great to be from the state, to have friends and family here to cheer me on and to win with them watching. I’ve just had a great year, and I’m so thankful.”
Virginia Tech, now 12-0 at home, will advance to play South Florida tomorrow, Saturday, May 8 at 1 p.m.
“We worked all year long to get to the NCAA,” head coach Jim Thompson said. “Most jitters of being at home are gone. Yet, some will remain. It is the NCAA, there will be some jitters."
The Bulls, who made it to the Sweet 16 last season, will provide a good challenge as the Hokies look to make their own first Sweet 16 since 1999.
“We’ll fight hard tomorrow,” Thompson said. “We’ll see how we bounce back from today’s close game, but we’ll fight hard.”