Collegiate Times

When college students travel to Florida in late March, it’s normally to have a good time. However, the Virginia Tech men’s tennis team’s latest visit to the Sunshine State was no picnic for the Hokies.

The team was tasked with facing No. 46 Florida State and No. 29 Miami this past weekend.

Entering the latter part of its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule, these road matches posed considerable challenges for
Tech.

“Both of these teams are ranked really high, so they came in with lots of confidence,” said Jim Thompson, Tech’s head coach. “(Florida) is always a tough place to get acclimated to, since it’s 87 degrees there and we come back to snow here in Blacksburg.”

In Friday’s match against Florida State, the Hokies won a tough one, 4-3, after initially dropping the doubles point and first singles match.

Junior Patrick Daciek and sophomore Lucas Oliveira each won their crucial matches at the No. 2 and No. 6 spots, respectively, to help give the team the win.

“Patrick played the same guy last year, so his composure was really high,” Thompson said. “Lucas also really gave us a huge win at number six and seems to have gotten his confidence back recently.”

Daciek has had an up and down season so far, going 6-7 in his singles matches, but has started to improve as he’s recovered from early injury troubles.

“This spring I’ve been dealing with rib and wrist injuries, but lately I’m getting back into match toughness and bringing as much energy as I can,” Daciek said.

Redshirt senior Pedro Graber also played a pivotal role in the team’s win, as it was his victory over Florida State’s Blake Davis that clinched the victory for the Hokies.

“In the beginning, I was disappointed that I let the first set slip away,” Graber said. “By the end, I knew it was only me and him (left playing) but I knew I had more experience, so I was confident about my chances.”

While a lot went right for the team against the Seminoles, the match against Miami on Sunday began under less auspicious circumstances.

“Our flight to Miami got cancelled, so we didn’t get a chance to practice on their courts,” Daciek said. “But it’s rare that everything always goes your way, so you can’t use it as an excuse.”

The poor start certainly didn’t help the Hokies, as they dropped the match to the Hurricanes by a score of 6-1.

“Miami is a really tough team, and they came out playing well, so momentum went their way early,” Daciek said. “I had six match points in my match alone, so things really could’ve gone either way.”

The team’s failure to win the doubles point was one of the main factors in the loss.

“Our doubles teams played well in both matches, but this is definitely an area we still need to improve on,” Thompson said. “Part of their struggles is due to the fact that the No. 3 team (of Daciek and Trpimir Kujundzic) haven’t played many matches together, so the No. 2 team really feels the pressure to perform.”

The team will need to improve on their game if it hopes to be competitive in their next two matches at home against rivals North Carolina and Duke.

“Every match in conference is important, especially when they’re at home against highly ranked opponents like these,” Thompson said. “We’ve had some wars with these teams in the past, especially with Carolina, so these will definitely be big matches for us.”

Seniors such as Graber are particularly intent on taking advantage of their last opportunity to face these strong ACC
opponents.

“These matches are our biggest of the season, as they’ll determine whether we’re in the top four or top eight of the ACC,” Graber said. 

“This is my last chance to beat UNC, and we’ve come really close before, so I hope we can accomplish that this weekend.”

Tech will host the Tar Heels Friday, April 1 and the Blue Devils on April 3. 

A version of this article appeared in the Mar 30 issue of the Collegiate Times.