Coming off a nail-biting loss to Dartmouth last Friday, Alabama men’s tennis bounced back against Virginia Tech for a 4-2 win on Sunday.

The Crimson Tide led 3-2 with seniors Edson Ortiz and Zhe Zhou still on the courts in singles, both competing in pivotal third sets after splitting the first two. Ortiz trailed 0-3 to win the third set 7-5 and clinch the match for Alabama.

Ortiz won his first set 6-4 and dropped his second 3-6. Zhou was leading 6-4, 5-7, 5-4 when Ortiz won; his match went unfinished.

Senior Alexey Nesterov took a 6-1, 6-2 win and junior Jeremy Gschwendtner won 6-2, 6-2 early to put Alabama up 3-0. Junior Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto lost in straight sets to clear the courts for Ortiz and Zhou.

“Level [of play] doesn’t matter out here,” Ortiz said. “Every single point matters.”

Alabama clinched the critical doubles point with two wins from freshman Marcelo Sepulveda Garza/Zhou and Nesterov/Roberto.

Nesterov/Roberto took an early 6-3 victory, cutting through the Hokies’ net game to break away late in the match. Sepulveda Garza/Zhou won 6-4 because of an early return-game win at 2-2 to gain the advantage.

Alabama’s ability to return Virginia Tech’s haymaker serves was critical in the few deciding games, and Alabama’s ability to play long points made the difference:

“We told the boys, ‘Be loose, make [Virginia Tech] play because we trust everything else on the court,’” coach George Husack said.

Alabama plays Drake in Minnesota on Friday in its first away match of the season, then faces Minnesota on Sunday.

“We have to go there and compete like we did today, and be better than we were today,” Husack said.