Wake Forest Athletics
No. 36 Deacons Face VCU in Home Opener
2/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 11, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's tennis will play its first home match of the season when it takes on VCU on Sunday at noon at the Indoor Tennis Center.
Wake Forest has traditionally thrived in its first home match of the year under head coach Jeff Zinn, winning its last 12 home openers.
After being hit hard by a virus in the opening weeks of the season, the No. 36 Deacons enter the match with a 1-3 record, while the Rams carry a 7-1 record. VCU will travel to Duke on Friday before making the trip to Winston-Salem.
The Demon Deacons will look to rebound from a rough trip to Michigan last weekend where they dropped 6-1 decisions to No. 21 Michigan and Michigan State. Wake was forced to use an altered lineup in the matches as No. 87 Tripper Carleton did not travel because of illness and numerous other members of the team were also hit by the virus.
Wake has four singles players in the national rankings - No. 45 Jonathan Wolff, No. 87 Carleton, No. 100 Danny Kreyman and No. 109 Iain Atkinson.
The Demon Deacons and the Rams have met every season since 1983 with VCU holding a 15-7 advantage in the series, though Wake Forest has won the last two meetings. Last season, the Deacs swept the doubles matches and got singles wins from Tripper Carleton, Jonathan Wolff and Zach Leslie to squeak past the Rams 4-3 in Richmond.
VCU's only loss of the 2011 season came against the Cornell, the only ranked opponent that they have played thus far. The Rams have one ranked singles player in No. 123 Max Wennakoski and have been led at the top singles position by Tim Johannsen.
Following the match against VCU, the Deacons will host another home match next weekend against LSU on Sunday Feb. 20 at noon.
For up-to-the minute Wake Forest tennis news, follow the Deacs on Twitter @WakeTennis or twitter.com/WakeTennis
