January 9, 2007

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's tennis team received a No. 52 national ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll released today. Arvid Puranen was ranked No. 67 in the national singles listing along with Albert Larregola (No. 70) and Nicolas Delgado (No. 87).

The Hokies concluded the 2005-06 season with a 13-15 mark and a No. 53 ranking at the end of the year, the program's second in the tough Atlantic Coast Conference. Tech returns eight players from last year and this year's squad will feature three seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen.

The preseason national poll includes ten ACC teams: No. 7 Duke, No. 8 Virginia, No. 11 Miami, No. 15 Florida State, No. 22 North Carolina, No. 23 Clemson, No. 24 Wake Forest, No. 26 Georgia Tech, No. 37 NC State and No. 52 Virginia Tech.

The Hokies will be led by Arvid Puranen (Sr., Lulea, Sweden), who ended last year with a 20-15 singles record and advanced to the NCAA Championships in Stanford, Calif. He posted a 7-4 ACC record playing at the top of the Tech lineup. Puranen concluded the year ranked No. 54 nationally and No. 3 in the Northeast Region. Puranen was also selected to the VaSID all-state team and was named to the All-ACC Academic team. He also was selected as an ITA Scholar-Athlete. During the fall campaign, Puranen won the ITA Northeast Regional tournament and advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championship. His 10-5 record during the fall season earned Puranen the top ranking in the Northeast Region.

Albert Larregola (Jr., Lleida, Spain) posted a 21-14 singles record last season and was 6-5 in the ACC playing primarily at the No. 2 and 3 positions. He also recorded 17 doubles victories for the Hokies and was a member of the All-ACC Academic team as well as being named an ITA Scholar-Athlete. Larregola was hampered by injuries during the fall and posted a 4-2 record in limited action. He was ranked No. 91 in the fall preseason national rankings and No. 7 in the Northeast Region at the conclusion of the fall season.

Nicolas Delgado (So., Madrid, Spain) had an outstanding fall with a 10-4 record. Delgado had a great run at the Northeast Regional tournament where he advanced to the quarterfinals. In his freshman year, Delgado had a 20-11 singles record and was 6-5 in ACC contests. He earned a No. 3 Northeast Region ranking at the end of the 2006 fall season.

The Hokies open up the dual match season on Jan. 27-28 when they host the Larson Bowker Shootout at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center on the Virginia Tech campus