BLACKSBURG - The No. 39-ranked Virginia Tech women’s tennis team will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 15 years, as announced during Tuesday’s NCAA Tennis Selection Show. The Hokies will travel to Los Angeles to face Long Beach State at Marks Stadium in the first round on either Friday, May 8th or Saturday, May 9th.
Tech (16-9, 7-7 ACC) makes the field of 64 as an at-large team after losing in the ACC quarterfinals to No. 1 North Carolina. The Hokies more than likely sealed their fate with a gritty 4-3 victory over Boston College in the second round in a match that came down to a third-set deciding tiebreaker in which Caroline Daxhelet came out on top. Tech proved its tournament worth all season by notching several wins in the extremely competitive ACC, including multiple victories over ranked opponents. No. 65 Ilinca Stoica and No. 46 Francesca Fusinato will lead the Hokies into the tournament out of the 1 and 2 spots. The team was visibly excited to be heading to Los Angeles after the announcement was made during the program-wide selection show viewing at the Merryman Center on Tuesday.
Long Beach State (18-5, 8-0 Big West), ranked a spot behind Tech in the latest ITA polls at No. 40, come into the tournament having won their last six matches, including a 3-0 sweep of the Big West Tournament to earn their automatic bid to NCAA’s. They find themselves in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year. The 49ers, sometimes referred to as simply “The Beach”, are led by Maeva Razakasoa out of the 1 spot with a 29-10 record on the season. Every player on Long Beach State has a winning record in singles play on the year.
In addition to Tech ending their 15 tournament drought, 2015 also marks the first year that both the men’s and women’s tennis programs have made the NCAA Tournament in the same season since Virginia Tech joined the ACC in 2004.
If the Hokies win their first round matchup, they will advance to play the winner of the host school Southern California and Youngstown State in the second round, also in Los Angeles.
The NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament is a 64-team field and consists of first and second rounds (May 8th-10th), a round of 16 (May 15th), quarterfinals (May 17th) and semifinals (May 18th), all leading up to the National Championship on May 19th. The “final four” will take place at Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
Follow us on Twitter for consistent updates throughout Tech’s tournament experience, including the match date and time when it becomes available. The full tournament bracket can be viewed here.
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