Despite struggling and being handed a 4-3 loss by Arkansas in the first match of its doubleheader Sunday, the Alabama men’s tennis team bounced back in the second match to definitively defeat The Citadel 7-0.

The Crimson Tide is now 8-7 on the season and 2-2 against SEC opponents.

“I think we competed well today, even against Arkansas, but we didn’t execute when we had to execute,” senior Daniil Proskura said. “Sometimes it’s about fighting, but you have to execute when it’s the right moment.”

(See also “Alabama men’s tennis seeks to improve record“)

The Alabama doubles teams led the Crimson Tide against The Citadel, sweeping the first round to give Alabama its first point. No. 17 Proskura earned Alabama’s first singles point in two sets to kick things off in the second round for his second two-set victory of the day.

The Crimson Tide then swept its matches on the singles court in two sets each. Proskura said the second match was a good comeback, but more work needs to be done.

“It was a tough loss for us, but it’s good that we bounced back and played well in every position,” the team captain said. “I think it’s important for us to get some confidence and wins against teams like that. It was a little bit disappointing against Arkansas. We were a favorite in that match. But we’ve got to bounce back. We’ve got to get back to practice.”

(See also “Tide men’s tennis team prepares for tournament“)

Despite ultimately falling in the first match against Arkansas, the Crimson Tide was competitive. In the singles round, Alabama and Arkansas won three matches apiece. The competition came down to the wire with tiebreakers being forced throughout play. Andrew Goodwin played through a second-set tiebreaker in singles. Nikko Madregallejo also fought his own tug-of-war battle. Playing through two tiebreakers to decide his first two sets, he played in a third set to decide the match, which went to Arkansas 6-2. Coach George Husack said he was pleased with the comeback against The Citadel, but the Crimson Tide failed in certain areas and needs to work on mending these mistakes for the future.

“I’ll give it to Arkansas for closing it out,” Husack said. “They closed it out, and we didn’t. We needed to close it out, and we failed in that department. That’s something that we should not have done. We’re well prepared to close out matches, and we didn’t.”

(See also “Alabama men’s tennis team seeks to improve record“)