April 1, 2005

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech's men's tennis team, ranked No. 41 by the ITA this week, travels to Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday for an important Atlantic Coast Conference match against No. 49 North Carolina at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

The Hokies are currently third in the conference with a record of 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the ACC. Leading the way for Tech is Stephane Rod. The senior from Lausanne, Switzerland is the 78^th-ranked player in the NCAA Division I. He posts a 12-1 dual record and is 5-0 in ACC matches. To date, Rod has collected 84 wins in his Hokie career, which is the most of any current player.

Arvid Puranen (So., Lulea, Sweden) is ranked by the ITA this week at No. 95. Puranen has a 9-5 dual record playing in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions and is 3-2 in conference matches.

Alexey Sergeev, a freshman from Moscow, Russia, leads the Hokies with 13 dual wins on the year. Nine of his wins have come at the No. 5 spot.

Albert Larregola (Fr., Lleida, Spain) has a 4-0 record playing in the No. 2 position and is 7-3 at No. 3 for a combined 12 dual wins on the season.

Senior Angel Diankov (Yonkers, N.Y.) has seen most of his playing time in the No. 4 spot where he posts a 6-3 record.

In doubles action, Tech's pair of Diankov/Brent Wilkins lead the team with eight dual victories on the year with most of their playing time spent at the No. 3 position. In conference action they are 2-3. Hokies Puranen/Larregola are 5-3 in No. 3 doubles. The team of Rod/Sergeev post a 4-4 record in the No. 1 spot.

The Tar Heels' record of 12-5, 3-2 ACC is good for sixth place in the conference. North Carolina is coming off a pair of conference, road victories over No. 37 NC State and Miami last weekend. Benjamin Carlotti, the ACC Men's Tennis Performer of the Week, is 13-4 in dual match play this season, including a perfect 5-0 mark in the ACC.