KNOXVILLE - It didn't take long for Chris Woodruff to get the Tennessee men's tennis team back to national relevance.
After a two year drought from the NCAA tournament, the Volunteers are back in the event under Woodruff, a former All-American player at Tennessee who was promoted from associate head coach to head coach last May.
Tennessee, ranked 20th nationally, opens NCAA tournament play on Saturday at 9 a.m. against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Should the Vols advance, they would likely play the tournament's No. 7 overall seed North Carolina in the second round on Sunday. Regardless of when the team's postseason journey ends, Woodruff wants his team to "go out in style."
"Go for your shots, have fun and relax," Woodruff said. "They owe it to themselves to have a strong finish, and I just hope that happens."
It's that mindset, along with a recalibration of the team's goals, that Woodruff and his players credit for how the Vols finished 8-4 in league play and fourth in the SEC standings after the league's coaches projected them to finish 10th before the season.
"He's putting a big emphasis on making it fun for us," redshirt junior Preston Touliatos said. "He's kind of seeing that we're all good players who have made it here. He kind of gives us the direction to go in but he also lets us be free to play with our instinct and trusts us to come up with the shots in the big moments."
Touliatos and doubles partner Luis Valero, a senior, came up with enough big shots late in the season to surge all the way to All-American status as one the nation's top eight doubles tandems after they began playing together in February. The duo is 11-3 (6-2 SEC) heading into the NCAA tournament.
"I couldn't believe it at first,' Touliatos said of his reaction to learning he and Valero made the top eight. "I was really shocked, because Luis and I knew we had a really good season and were going to be right on that edge. It's his last year."
Learning of the accomplishment was especially sweet for Touliatos because of the fact that he was forced to take a medical redshirt season last year because of injuries.
Touliatos and Valero will compete in the 32-team doubles national tournament later this month in Winston-Salem, N.C. The team's top singles player, junior Timo Stodder, will compete in the singles tournament.
For now, the focus is on the NCAA team tournament. Valero is the only player currently on the roster who played in the NCAA tournament in 2015, which is the last year Tennessee qualified. That year, the Vols lost in the first round.
In the two season that followed, the Vols went a combined 3-21 in team SEC play before Woodruff took over. Now the Vols are back on the national radar.
"I'm really excited," Touliatos said. "It's 64 of the best teams playing. It's a new thing for us. We're all really excited to participate and try to win, see what happens. Should be fun."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.