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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The 34th-ranked Virginia Tech women’s tennis team will be one of the 64 teams participating in the 2016 NCAA Team Championship next week, beginning with a first round matchup against No. 21 Mississippi State in Lubbock on Friday, May 13 at an undetermined time.

The Hokies (14-10, 7-7 ACC) trip to Lubbock will mark the first time the team has made consecutive NCAA Team Championship appearances in program history and will be the team’s second appearance since 2000. The squad most recently fell to Wake Forest about two weeks ago at the ACC tournament in Cary, N.C. Tech has already won matches over higher-ranked opponents this season, including victories over then-No. 6 Duke and then-No. 16 Georgia Tech in Blacksburg.

Coach Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods’ Hokies defeated Long Beach State in the first round of the NCAA Championship last season, marking the program’s first ever road NCAA tournament win. Francesca Fusinato and Elena Cerezo-Codina will look to help lead Tech to another win after being named second and third team All-ACC last week.

Mississippi State enters the tournament with a 17-8 overall record to go with a 7-6 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs finished the season ranked 21st in the nation after falling to No. 4 Vanderbilt in the SEC quarterfinals. The team had three players finish the season in the ITA Top 125 in No. 14 Jasmine Lee, No. 32 Georgiana Patrasc, and No. 117 Anastasia Rentouli. Lee leads State in wins with 28, while Patrasc and Rentouli are tied for second with 27. The Bulldogs finished their season on a hot note, winning five in a row against ranked opponents before the loss to Vanderbilt.

The winner of the match will move on to face the winner of Boston University and host Texas Tech in the second round.

Stay up to date with Tech’s trip to Lubbock by following us on Twitter for links to live stats and news throughout the tournament.

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