Lina Garada / SPPSSenior tennis player Albert Larregola returns the ball during a match against Florida Stat on March 28, 2008
"I didn't know anyone, and I didn't speak good English, so I had some problem communicating," Larregola said.
During the first semester of his freshman year, Larregola looked to roommate and teammate Ignaci Roca, a native of Costa Rica, to help him through the language barrier.
Not only did Larregola face hurdles off the tennis court, he also faced them on the court.
While it was obvious that Albert knew what to do with a tennis racket, he still faced the challenge of playing on an unfamiliar surface.
"I played mostly on clay in Spain and it is faster playing indoors here, so it took some time to adjust," Larregola said.
Despite being faced with speaking a new language, a different game of tennis and the already difficult challenge of adjusting to life as a college student, Larregola put himself to work. In his four years as a Hokie, Larregola racked up more than 80 overall wins and was nationally ranked as high as 40th in the nation at one point.
This year, Larregola became "the first Hokie since Arvid Puranen in 2006 to participate in the NCAA Championships," according to hokiesports.com.
Larregola is now just months away from graduating, but he is still playing tennis and plans on doing so for a long time.
This past weekend he competed alongside several Tech tennis players at the Roanoke Valley Invitational Tennis Tournament in Roanoke County. In the tournament semifinals, Albert and two of his Tech teammates represented three of the four players remaining.
On one side, Larregola faced off against Tech walk-on Preston Lemon.
On the other side, former Alcorn State player Robert Gates faced off against Tech senior Roca, Larregola's freshman year roommate.
As if the stars were aligned, in one of their last competitions as Hokies, both Larregola and Roca advanced to the tournament men's open singles final. No longer were the two competing to see who would take the trash out.
The doubles partners, old roommates and teammates now got the opportunity to face each other for a reward much different than their friendly bets of the past.
"It was hard to compete in a real match with him," Larregola said.
When the match was underway, however, Larregola said that it didn't take long until he "got back to playing (his) game."
Larregola defeated Roca in the final on Sunday, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 to win the men's open singles final.
Roca and Larregola later teamed up to win the men's open doubles final in Roanoke, making Sunday a day for the Hokies. With graduation swiftly approaching, seniors like Larregola and Roca have decisions to make about taking the next step to the professional level.
Larregola will soon go home to Spain, where he will take time to rest and collect his thoughts. When he returns to Tech, he plans to spend his time "practicing with the team" and working as he normally does to improve his game.
"I have one more semester but I don't really know what I'm going to do yet," Larregola said. "I need to find out if I can get sponsored either here in America or back home."
Whatever Larregola does decide to do, he feels his years at Virginia Tech were well spent.
"I feel proud of myself because I think I had a successful career. I think I improved a lot during these four years," he said.
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