April 29, 2008

• 2008 ACC Men's Tennis Championship Photos (Available for Purchase)

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Seven of the league-record 10 teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference that competed in the national postseason tournament a year ago will return to the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship, as the NCAA announced the 64 teams and 16 first- and second-round sites on Tuesday afternoon.

Virginia, which captured its second straight ACC Championship title less than two weeks ago and received the league's automatic NCAA bid, makes its fifth consecutive appearance in the national postseason event. The Cavaliers will be joined by at-large recipients Duke, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

The Cavaliers, who have been ranked No. 1 in the nation all season, will put its unbeaten 28-0 record on the line and look to become the first ACC team to claim a national title in men's tennis. In 2007, Virginia became the first men's team in league history to reach the national semifinals.

Virginia will be hosting three other schools, playing Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening round. VCU and Penn State will square off in the other first-round match with the winners from the first round moving into the second. The winner from the second round will then advance to the Round of 16.

Two other league schools will be joining Virginia in playing host for the first and second rounds. North Carolina, the 12th overall seed in the tournament, will hit the courts against South Carolina State in the first round with the winner facing either 23rd-ranked Arizona State or 43rd-ranked Duke in the second.

Florida State, which collected the tournament's 14th overall seed, will battle Samford in the opening round. A win for the Seminoles will bring a meeting with either 21st-ranked Alabama or 62nd-ranked South Alabama in the second.

In other NCAA opening weekend action, 19th-ranked Miami plays 42nd-ranked South Florida in Gainesville, Fla., on the campus of the University of Florida. The Hurricanes upended three of the four top seeds in this year's ACC Tournament to reach the title match, where they fell to No. 1 seed and defending champion Virginia.

Wake Forest, ranked 28th in the nation, will take on 35th-ranked Auburn at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., while 30th-ranked Virginia Tech battles Kentucky in Knoxville, Tenn., with the University of Tennessee as host.

First- and second-round competition will be conducted Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday, May 9-10 or 10-11, with the winner of each site advancing to the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., hosted by the University of Tulsa. The team championship will be held May 16-20.

-ACC-