NEWBURGH, N.Y. - The Mount Saint Mary College men's tennis team returned from Hilton Head, South Carolina with a record of 1-2. The Knights open their northern season on Tuesday, March 22 against Fairleigh Dickinson Florham.

Mount Saint Mary opened the trip with a 9-0 defeat at the hands of Baldwin-Wallace College. Freshman Greg Jacob (Ridgefield, Conn.) highlighted the match with a well-played effort at first singles.

On Thursday, the Knights rallied for a 5-4 victory over Eastern Nazarene College. Mount Saint Mary trailed 4-3 with just two matches remaining, but the fifth and sixth singles players for the Mount both pulled out three-set wins to clinch the match.

Freshman Ryan McNiff (East Northport, N.Y.), after losing the opening set 6-0, came on strong in the second and eventually prevailed in a tiebreaker. McNiff went on to win a third set super tiebreaker, 10-5. Junior Zach Conlon (Huntington, N.Y.) dropped the opening set, 6-1, before responding with a 6-1 victory in set two. He clinched the team victory with a narrow 10-8 triumph in the super tiebreaker.

Rounding out trip, the Mount lost a tough, 5-4 decision to Lebanon Valley College on Friday. Jacob and fellow freshman Stat Willand (Sparta, N.J.) teamed for an 8-6 victory at first doubles and both prevailed in their singles matches. Conlon also collected a point with a 6-3, 6-1 win at fourth singles.

The Knights open up Skyline Conference play over next weekend as they'll host Farmingdale State College at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 26.