From Wake Forest Media Relations- WakeForestSports.com
For the second year in a row, the Wake Forest men’s tennis team will open the NCAA Championships in Charlottesville, Va. The 33rd-ranked Demon Deacons are the second seed in a four-team pod and will take on 46th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth on the courts of the University of Virginia in the first round of the tournament at 10 a.m. on May 13.
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The winner of that match will take on the winner of the first round match between No. 1 overall seed Virginia and Sacred Heart on May 14 at 4 p.m.
Wake Forest earned a bid to the NCAA Championships for the 11th consecutive year, the third-longest streak in the ACC and the 15th-longest in the country.
In the Rams (22-6), the Deacons (13-11) will face a familiar foe. Wake Forest took down VCU 6-1 in Winston-Salem back in February with freshman Adam Lee scoring the clinching singles match in his collegiate debut.
The two sides have met every season since 1993. Their only previous postseason matchup came in the first round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament, Wake Forest’s first-ever NCAA appearance, with the Rams posting a 4-0 win.
"VCU is a team that we know very well, and they always battle us hard," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "We know that they are going to be looking for revenge from our match earlier in the year, so we have to make sure that we prepare well for them."
For the second-straight year, a potential match up with a top-ranked Virginia team looms in the second round. The Cavaliers (29-0) are the top seed in the tournament for the fourth year in a row but have yet to claim an NCAA title.
The Deacs gave the Hoos a good fight earlier in the month at Hanes Park, as Iain Atkinson earned the best win of his career over No. 25 Sanam Singh and Danny Kreyman topped No. 120 Justin Shane, but the Cavaliers eventually prevailed 5-2. Wake Forest was one of only five teams to take two points from UVA in a dual match this season.
The Demon Deacons will kick off NCAA Tournament play in Charlottesville for the fourth time in the last eight seasons. Last year, Wake Forest shutout Columbia 4-0 in the first round on the Snyder Tennis Center courts before falling to Virginia in the second round.
"As always, we are excited to be back in the NCAA Tournament. At some point it would be nice to get a little change of scenery, but you have to take the path that the committee puts in front of you," said Zinn. "Virginia’s record speaks for itself, but we feel like we played pretty well against them in the regular season. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to get another crack at them."
The winner of the four-team pod will advance to the NCAA Sweet 16, which will be held on the campus of Stanford beginning on May 19.
For up-to-the minute Wake Forest tennis news, follow the Deacs on Twitter @WakeTennis or twitter.com/WakeTennis