Livingston had secured the first two points of the match and needed just one more to cap one of the best seasons in school history.
Getting that third point, though, turned out to be no easy task.
After missing on their first 11 match points, Spencer Luster and Kevin Sun finally nailed down a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory at second doubles to give top-seeded Livingston its third point in a 4-1 win over Delbarton in the final of the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions Thursday at Mercer County Park in West Windsor.
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Livingston captured its first overall title since 1977 and second in school history, while capping a 36-0 campaign. Livingston was 37-0 in 1977.
Approximately an hour after the Lancers went up 2-0, Luster, a sophomore, and Sun, a junior, upped it to 3-0 as Thomas Caputo and Varun Dyapa both failed to put their matches away and were locked in the third set of close battles at first and third singles, respectively.
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“I would have been really nervous had they not closed it out,” Livingston coach Elliot Lovi said. “We had the two points and three chances to get another. It’s been this way all year for us. We’ve had a lot of close matches.”
Luster and Sun built a 5-1 advantage in the third set but surrendered five match points in the seventh game, three in the eighth and three in the 10th before putting the team match away when Luster volleyed down the center between his two opponents.
“I was so relieved,” Sun said. “I was feeling the weight of my team on my shoulders. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
Livingston, the top seed, was favored at all five spots, especially in the doubles.
Livingston went up 1-0 when Brandon Goldstein topped Spencer Furey, 6-3, 6-2, at second singles. Matt Wolff and Jesse Bloom took the point at first doubles 6-2, 6-2, as Livingston led 2-0.
“It’s an awesome accomplishment for this team,” Wolff, a senior, said. “It’s only been done one other time at our school and that was a long time ago. This was the last team match of my high school career. As soon as we started to get on a roll in the first set, I felt comfortable.”
Caputo, who became the first player in state history to win a T of C crown with two different schools, outlasted Chase Savage, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1. Caputo, a junior, won as a freshman in 2009 with Newark Academy, before transferring to Livingston.
Dyapa ended up suffering a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-0) loss.
Jason Bernstein captures the action in this special 30-plus photo gallery.
