HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The FDU-Florham men's tennis team finished 2-2 during their spring break trip in Hilton Head, SC.

The trip was highlighted by an 8-1 victory over St. Louis College of Pharmacy. The Devils also earned a 7-2 victory over Washington and Jefferson, while suffering 6-3 losses to both Messiah and Scranton in hotly-contested matches that were decided by the slimmest of margins.

Junior Ryan Hurdes (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) led the Devils with a 6-1 overall record on the trip recording three wins at 5th singles and three more at 3rd doubles. Hurdes and senior partner Brian Rifici (Magnolia, N.J./Triton Regional) were perfect on the trip winning all three doubles matches they competed in together.

The individual outstanding match of the trip was a heroic comeback effort from junior Mitch Gettis (Reading, Pa./Exeter) at 1^st singles facing Alex Cline of St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Gettis dropped the first set and trailed in the second set, 5-1. Cline won the first two points of what could have been the deciding game, but momentum quickly changed. Gettis scrapped out four consecutive points, all while battling a nagging calf injury, to make the set score 5-2.

"Mitch is the type of kid who will give 100% effort every time on the court," Coach Scott Veith said. "He's a tough kid to play against."

Gettis won three-straight games to tie up the second set at five. The Reading, PA native then hustled and hobbled to 7-6 set win by way of an 8-6 tiebreaker victory to take the second set, and an 11-9 match super-tiebreaker win.

Gettis teamed with senior AJ Warden (Deland, Fla./Deland) to take three of their four first doubles matches. Warden and classmates Kevin Kotsak (South Amboy, N.J./South Amboy) and Ryan Kearns (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) played strong tennis on the trip and are poised to lead the senior-heavy line-up into the northern portion of the spring season. These three Devils have been singles and doubles starters since arriving together as freshman.

"Our seniors are at a point where all they care about is finishing strong," Veith said. "They're battle tested. They've seen a lot in their four years. Now it's time to play the best tennis of their careers, and this trip was a good start."

Sophomore Nikola Radovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Fourteenth Belgrade) tallied two wins at 6^th singles and sophomore Jonsin Aybalik (Cliffside Park, N.J./Cliffside Park) stepped up for a big win at 3^rd singles, playing in place of Kotsak who suffered a heat-related illness during the trip.

The Devils return to action this Sunday when they travel to Frederick, Maryland to take on the Blazers of Hood College.