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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team will enter the Spring season as the 30^th-ranked team in the nation, as decided by the ITA in the first poll of the new year. The ranking will match the Hokies’ highest rank in program history after finishing 30^th in the poll last season.

Ilinca Stoica will enter the season ranked 104^th in the nation after another solid performance this Fall, which included a championship match birth in the USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational in Orlando back in November.

Right behind Stoica in the rankings is Caroline Daxhelet, coming in at No. 108 in the country. Daxhelet earned a championship match appearance of her own this Fall in the ITA Atlantic Regional, placing second after dropping the final match to one of the nation’s top players in Virginia’s Julia Elbaba. Stoica was named the ITA Player to Watch for the Atlantic Region after last season.

As far as the Atlantic Region goes, Daxhelet ranks 6^th, followed by teammate Francesca Fusinato in the 7^th spot followed by Stoica in the 8^th slot. Daxhelet and Elena Cerezo-Codina were also tabbed as the 10^th-ranked doubles duo in the region.

The Hokies are coming off a historic season that included several victories over ranked opponents and the second NCAA Tournament berth in team history. Tech fell to the No. 1 ranked USC Trojans in Los Angeles in the second round after knocking off Long Beach State in the first.

Head coach Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods was honored with the Wilson/ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year award after the Hokies’ postseason run. Woods will return her entire team from last season and will look to build on the success from last year’s NCAA Tournament run.

Tech will hit the court on January 16^th at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg with a doubleheader against Radford and Western Carolina to kick off the Spring slate.

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