February 4, 2006

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- In a contest featuring three extremely tight doubles matches and four, three-set singles contest, the Virginia Tech men's tennis team kept its' record perfect Saturday afternoon with a thrilling 4-3 upset of No. 35 Middle Tennessee State at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center on the Virginia Tech campus. The Hokies, ranked No. 56 in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, improve to 7-0 on the year. MTSU fell to 2-1.

Tech dropped three very close doubles contests in losing the first point, but battled back to win three of the five completed singles matches, including three, three-set contests.

Leading 1-0, MTSU increased its' advantage by taking the No. 6 singles match as M. Richard defeated Brandon Corace (Fr., Naples, Fla.), 6-4, 6-3. The Hokies got on the board with a 6-3, 7-5, victory at No. 3 by Nicolas Delgado (Fr., Madrid, Spain) over Rishan Kuruppu. David Rosenfeld (Fr., Coral Gables, Fla.) tied the match for the Hokies with his come-from-behind 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 5.

Tech took the lead for the first time as Albert Larregola (So., Lleida, Spain) dropped the first set of his No. 4 match against Kai Schledorn before taking the final two sets, 7-6, 6-2. Tech then clinched the win at No. 2 when Alexei Sergeev (So., Moscow, Russia) battled his way to a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 win over No. 97 Marco Born. In the remaining singles match at No. 1, No. 48 Andreas Silijestrom (MTSU) defeated Tech's 98^th-rank Arvid Puranen (Jr., Lulea, Sweden) 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

The match opened with MTSU winning all three close doubles contests. Born/Siljestrom edged Tech's Sergeev/Brent Wilkins (Sr., Richmond, Va.), 8-6, at No. 2 and the Blue Raiders clinched the doubles point at No. 1 with a 9-8 win by Allen/Schledorn over Puranen/Rosenfeld. MTSU completed the sweep as Kuruppu/Greg Pollack defeated the Hokies' Delgado/Larregola, 8-6.

Tech will take to the road for the first time this season on Feb. 10 at No. 15 Ohio State in a 3 p.m. match.

No. 56 Virginia Tech 4, No. 35 Middle Tennessee State 3

Singles
1. #48 Andreas Silijestrom (MTSU) def. #98 Arvid Puranen (VT) 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
2. Alexei Sergeev (VT) def. #97 Marco Born (MTSU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6
3. Nicolas Delgado (VT) def. Rishan Kuruppu (MTSU) 6-3, 7-5
4. Albert Larregola (VT) def. Kai Schledorn (MTSU) 3-6, 7-6, 6-2
5. David Rosenfeld (VT) def. Brandon Allen (MTSU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-1
6. M. Richard (MTSU) def. Brandon Corace (VT) 6-4, 6-3

Finishing Order:
6, 3, 5, 4, 2*, 1

Doubles
1. Allen/Schledorn (MTSU) def. Puranen/Rosenfeld (VT) 9-8
2. Born/Silijestrom (MTSU) def. Sergeev/Brent Wilkins (VT) 8-6
3. Kuruppu/Greg Pollack (MTSU) def. Delgado/Larregola (VT) 8-6

Finishing Order:
2, 1*, 3