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The No. 38 Virginia Tech men?s tennis team extended its early-season winning streak to three after a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center last Sunday afternoon.
The Hokies began the contest by taking two of the three doubles matches. Andreas Laulund and Stephane Rod, the No. 44 duo in the country, won the match between the top seeds of their respective teams, while the combination of Francis Huot and Michael Kurz also recorded a win for Tech.
In the singles action, Tech?s top three players were all victorious, led by dominating performances from Saber Kadiri and Huot.
Kadiri, ranked 51st in the nation, won the first two sets of his match to emerge victorious, 6-0, 6-2, while Huot, the 94th ranked player in the nation, won 6-0, 6-1.
Tech?s Andreas Laulund, who is ranked No. 88 in the nation, also prevailed, 6-4, 6-2 in his match.
Rod, the Hokie?s other nationally ranked player at No. 78, lost a nail biter to Sebastian Faulk, falling 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(2).
?I think this is a very important win for us,? men?s tennis coach Jim Thompson said. ?Anytime you win a 4-3 match, you can gain something from it.?
The men?s tennis team has started the 2003 calendar year on a tear, winning all three of their matches, with it?s players losing only three individual matches all season.
Until their matchup with Arkansas-Little Rock, no Hokie player had dropped a match all season in singles action.
While the season is still young, Thompson has high hopes for his Hokies.
?We?ve got some things to work on, it?s early in the season, and I hope we?re going to take this win and improve with it,? he said.
The Hokies, now 6-1 overall, return to action on Feb. 9 when they travel to State College, Pa. to take on Penn St.
They return home, and will resume play on Feb. 14, as they host Yale in a match scheduled to begin at 2 PM at Burrows-Burrelson Tennis Center.
Two of the Hokies next three matches will be played in Blacksburg, before a string of three matches on the road.
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