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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --
The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team will take on Virginia, the No. 2 overall seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, Friday at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Knights and Cavaliers will play their first round match at 1 p.m., with VCU and Minnesota meeting in the other first round match at 10 a.m. The first round winners will meet in the second round at 3 p.m. on Saturday for a trip to the round of 16 next week at Illinois.
FDU (9-7) is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and second straight. The Knights will be playing Virginia for the second year in a row and for the third time in their last three NCAA appearances. FDU lost to the Wahoos in both meetings, 4-0.
The Knights stamped their ticket to the first round after rallying from a 3-1 deficit to defeat top-seeded Byrant, 4-3, in the Northeast Conference Championship match two Sundays ago. FDU also shut out Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals and defeated Quinnipiac, 4-1, in the semis before winning their NEC-record 12th men's title.
First-year head coach Jonathan Buchman has put together a strong lineup headlined by two-time NEC Player of the Year Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Language School). The sophomore from Latvia went 7-0 in singles play during the conference season and is 11-4 at the No. 1 position.
All six of the Knights' singles starters were honored with First or Second Team All-NEC recognition, while the duo of Berzins and senior Ibrahim Shams (Cairo, Egypt/Manor House), along with the tandem of seniors Mark Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) and Peter Skvara, were named First and Second Team All-NEC at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.
Virginia (24-0) is hosting first and second round play for the 10th consecutive year. The 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference champion is looking to advance to the round of 16 for the 10th consecutive year. The Cavaliers have reached at least the quarterfinals the last eight years, including runner-up finishes the last two seasons.
The Wahoos are led by former ACC Player of the Year Jarmere Jenkings, a four-time All-ACC performer, who is ranked No. 3 in the nation in singles. Alex Domijan is a three-time All-ACC honoree and is ranked No. 2 in the country in singles. Mac Styslinger (No. 28), Mitchell Frank (No. 39), last year's ACC Rookie of the Year, Ryan Shane (No. 69) and Harrison Richmond (No. 70) are also all nationally ranked.
A win by FDU would earn them a spot in the second round with a match against the winner of VCU versus Minnesota on Saturday at 3 p.m.
