VALDOSTA, Ga. – The 16th-ranked Embry-Riddle men's tennis team bounced back from a tough loss on Saturday to defeat West Alabama 4-1 in the Eagles' only neutral site game of the season on Sunday.
 
The Tigers owned an early 1-0 advantage after winning two of the three doubles matches. Wilson Igbinovia and Eita Ishikawa topped Fernando Alonso and Caelan Potts 6-2 on court two, but Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo and Safar Rasulov tied things up with their 6-3 win over Villislav Bonev and Caden Goldammer at the third spot, leaving it to the match at the top spot to decide the doubles point.
 
The battle between ERAU's Joshua Nuyts and Michele Iftimie and Lucas Hammond and Jacob Tapia needed a tiebreaker to determine the outcome and, in the end, it was the UWA duo that held off Nuyts and Iftimie 7-6 (3) to give the Tigers a 1-0 edge heading into singles.
 
Alonso pulled the Eagles level with his 6-3, 6-4 win over Bonev at No. 4 singles, and Diaz Rodrigo continued his unbeaten dual match streak with a 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Jared Pierce at No. 6 to put the Eagles up 2-1.
 
Following Hammond's 6-2, 6-3 top-flight win over Rasulov, Iftimie put the Eagles back in front with his 7-5, 6-4 win against Ishikawa on court three.
 
The match at No. 5 singles saw Tapia outlast Potts (6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3) in a three-setter leaving it to Nuyts to decide the match on court two. The ERAU freshman dropped a tight first set to Igbinovia 7-6 (3), but rebounded to win the next two sets 6-3, 7-6 (3) to clinch the victory for the Blue and Gold.
 
The Eagles will face another tough opponent in their return to Sunshine State Conference play on Wednesday when they host top-ranked Saint Leo at the Crotty Tennis Complex. Match time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.