Having already faced four top-50 teams, Alabama men’s tennis returns home on Friday to begin the nearly two month-long gauntlet of SEC opponents starting with No. 18 LSU.

“The SEC is relentless in that it provides a lot of opportunities, but those opportunities can also bring challenges,” coach George Husack said. “We cannot get wrapped out in how we started last year or how we need to start this year.”

Last season, Alabama started off slow in SEC play losing seven out its first eight, but it peaked at the right time by advancing to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament to secure a spot in the NCAA Championships, finishing in the Round of 16 in the NCAA Championships.

As for this year, the Crimson Tide comes into its SEC schedule with more match-situation experience and a tougher non-conference schedule to emulate the quality of SEC opponents.

“We are looking forward to it and we feel we are going to do way better than last year because we are more experienced,” sophomore Patrick Kaukovalta said.

Unlike past years, the non-conference schedule tested Alabama from the moment the season started. The first match of the season was against No. 14 Michigan, in which Alabama had to battle until the final singles match to secure the victory. Just two weeks later, it faced No. 17 Minnesota and dropped the doubles point, which led to a narrow 4-3 loss.

Last weekend, Alabama traveled to the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama where it faced top-50 teams Ole Miss and Texas Tech. In the first match against Ole Miss, Alabama won the doubles point on Friday night, but when the match continued on Saturday morning, Ole Miss took control and won 4-2.

“Ole Miss surprised us in how well they did in singles,” Kaukovalta said. “Overall, it was pretty close against them. We wanted to bounce back and were very excited heading into the Texas Tech match.”

Alabama did not get off to the start they wanted against Texas Tech by losing the doubles point but bounced back in singles play to win 4-1.

“The team learned that teams can respond well and that we can also respond well after losing the doubles point,” Husack said. “It’s been like the Curse of the Bambino in our locker room, where if we don’t win the doubles point, we won’t win the match, and it was the first time in three years we have done it, so it was great for these guys.”

Despite a successful outing at the Blue Gray Classic, the Crimson Tide has work to do to prepare for the difficult schedule ahead with eight of the final 13 opponents being ranked in the top 50. On Friday, Alabama is slated to face one of those eight in LSU. The Tigers come to Tuscaloosa with an 11-1 record for the season and 4-0 in matches away from Baton Rouge.

The Crimson Tide will return to action on Sunday against Texas A&M, who advanced to the semifinals in the NCAA Championships last year.

“The losses from this past weekend taught us where we need to improve and that’s the idea in what we are doing to prepare for LSU and Texas A&M,” junior Zhe Zhou said. “We have a few days off of practice, so we can focus on individual things that we did not do well in during the Blue Gray and being better than before.”