CARY, N.C. - The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team will begin play at the 2015 ACC Championship on Thursday with a 3 p.m. tilt against 8th-seeded Boston College at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina. The match is a part of the second round, as both teams earned first round byes by finishing in the top 9.
The Hokies (15-8, 7-7 ACC) have won their first round match in the ACC tournament in each of the last two seasons, but have never advanced past the second round, where they’ll begin play on Thursday.
Tech and Boston College (13-11, 7-7 ACC) have met once this year, a match that the Eagles took by a score of 5-2 on March 20th in Chestnut Hills. The teams have never met in the ACC Tournament, but met every year from 2001 to 2004 in the Big East Tournament before switching conferences. Virginia Tech went 2-1-1 in that time.
The 9th-seeded Hokies, ranked 39th in the latest ITA poll, are chasing their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2000. Francesca Fusinato (Second Team All-ACC) is currently ranked 46th in the country, followed by Ilinca Stoica (Second Team All-ACC) coming in at No. 63 this week. Stoica notched her second career victory over a top-5 opponent this past weekend with a 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 4 Julia Elbaba of Virginia on Sunday. Elena Cerezo-Codina is back in the polls this week as well, coming in at No. 95 after a win against No. 30 Stephanie Nauta of Virginia. Cerezo-Codina and Fusinato also earned the No. 79 ranking in doubles play after defeating Virginia’s No. 41 ranked Mercer and Morton on Sunday.
The Eagles enter the tournament ranked No. 69 in the country. They are led by No. 76 Jessica Wacnik out of the 1 spot and No. 119 Asiya Dair, who boasts a 16-5 record on the season. Boston College has lost three matches in a row coming into the week against Georgia Tech, Clemson, and North Carolina.
The winner of the match will advance to Friday’s quarterfinals to take on the nation and conference’s top-ranked team in North Carolina at noon. The full bracket can be found on the ACC Women's Championship homepage.
Live stats for the tournament will be available here.
For updates on Virginia Tech women's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_WTennis