LHS Tennis: 2 Wins Away From Perfect Season

Thomas Caputo, Brandon Goldstein and Varun Dyapa smashed their way to two singles victories each and second doubles tandem, Kevin Sun and Spencer Luster, combined for two wins of their own as Livingston rolled to triumphs over Eastern and West Windsor-Plainsboro South to capture the NJSIAA Group 4 title on Thursday at Mercer County Park in West Windsor.

The Lancers, the North Jersey, Section 1 champ downed South Jersey champion Eastern, 5-0, in the semifinals and topped Central Jersey winner West Windsor South, 4-1, in the final.

Livingston, which won its seventh group crown and first since 2002, was tabbed the top seed for the Tournament of Champions. That event begins on Tuesday. Livingston received a bye through the first round and will face off with the winner of the match between fourth-seeded Millburn and fifth-seeded Haddonfield in the semifinal on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Mercer County Park. If it wins, LHS will compete in the final on Thursday. 

The day had little drama for Livingston (33-0) – especially compared to the thrilling 3-2 victory over Morris Knolls posted by the team on Tuesday – which won in straight sets at all five flights against Eastern and gave up just seven games combined at the three singles position in taking a 3-0 lead in the final.

In the championship, Dyapa posted a 6-0, 6-1 victory at third singles for the first point of the match and Caputo made it 2-0 when he won 6-1, 6-0 at first singles. who was the hero of Tuesday’s victory, snapping a 2-2 tie with a dramatic three-set victory that day, clinched again on Thursday, defeating Daniel Ng 6-2, 6-3, at second singles. After Matt Wolff and Jesse Bloom dropped their match at first doubles,7-5, 6-4, Luster and Sun came off with a three-set win.