Feb. 24, 2004

The 48th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team (4-3) heads to Virginia Tech Wednesday for a matchup with the 50th-ranked Hokies (4-4). The Deacs slipped past #49 Virginia Tech, 4-3, last year when the teams got together in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons enter Wednesday's match having won both matches last week at home against #75 Old Dominion and East Tennesee State while the Hokies are coming off of a 7-0 loss to #16 Ohio State on Sunday.

Derrick Spice, Todd Paul, and Joe Bates each won two singles matches last week and Paul paired up with Andrew Hamar to take both No. 2 doubles matches. Last Wednesday, Spice defeated the nation's 13th-ranked player, Old Dominion's Izak van der Merwe, and Monday was named ACC Performer of the Week for the second time this season. The Wake Forest junior from North Olmsted, Ohio now finds himself ranked 35th in the nation.

So far this season, Wake Forest has been led by Spice and Paul who both have compiled 5-2 overall singles records, Spice at No. 1 and Paul at No. 3. Bates has also given the Deacs a lift since entering the lineup, winning his first three matches at No. 6 singles. On the doubles side, the Deacs' No. 1 tandem of Spice and Brett Ross are 4-3 in the spring after finishing the fall with an 11-4 mark.

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