Essex County Freeholders Honor Livingston HS Boys Tennis Team

Congratulations Lancers.

The 2015 Group 4 State Champion Livingston High School Boys Tennis Team was honored by the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders during their June 10 meeting at the Hall of Records in Newark.

“These guys would not quit, they just never quit”, said Lancers Coach Elliot Lovi. “Our theme this year was to compete, and that’s exactly what they did the entire season. To illustrate how they competed all the time, this year they won six super tie-breakers… real pressure situations.”

“I’d like to thank the freeholders for having us here today and it’s really an honor representing Livingston and Essex County”, said Senior Captain Dennis Li. “It was a great season, we fought through a lot of tough moments, but in the end coming up with the Group 4 championship was really worth it and being here today is truly an honor.”

Senior Captain Anthony Caputo thanked his teammates and coaches.

“We couldn’t have done it without every one of you”, Caputo said. “I [also] want to thank our parents for always being there for us and supporting us in our matches.”

According to a release, the Lancers won their state championship when they defeated Westfield High School, (3-2), on May 20 at Mercer County Park in West Windsor.

In state tournament play they first defeated Passaic H.S. (5-0), Bergen Tech (5-0) and then Randolph H.S. (5-0) to win the North 2, Group 4 Sectional Championship on May 18th, before going on to defeat Montgomery H.S. (4½-½) and then Westfield to capture the Group 4 State Championship, thereby propelling the team into the Tournament of Champions (TOC) where it defeated Holmdel H.S. (4-1) in the semifinals to reach the TOC Championship match.

In the lead-up to the state tournament competition, the team also won the Lancer Tennis Showdown, the Newark Academy Invitational Tennis Tournament and the Essex County Championship, and completed its Super Essex Conference season with a record of 10-2. Additionally, the Doubles Team of Earl Hsieh and Jessie Korovin won the Essex County Doubles Championship.

The Lancers finished their Group 4 State Championship season with a superlative overall record of 33-4 while also winning the program’s 19th sectional championship and 8th group title overall.

The Livingston High School Boys Tennis Team is comprised of: Seniors Captain Anthony Caputo, Captain Dennis Li, Jason Kim, Brian Pinke and Michael Segal; Juniors Harrison Chiger, Sam Farber, Jessie Korovin, Justin Patel, Elan Rom and Kevin Xu; and Sophomores Earl Hsieh and Austin Sertner.

The team was coached by Elliot Lovi and Paul Cirlincione.

The Board’s Commendation was sponsored and presented by Freeholders Patricia Sebold of Livingston and Leonard M. Luciano of West Caldwell, a Livingston High School graduate.

“This presentation is an especially happy occasion for me and Freeholder Luciano”, said Sebold. “I have lived in Livingston for more than four decades, my two children graduated from Livingston High School, and I have two grandchildren there right now.

Sebold also paused to pay tribute to Head Coach Elliot Lovi who was named the “Boys Tennis Coach of the Year” by NJ.com earlier in the day.

“I didn’t play tennis as a Lancer… I played ice hockey”, said Luciano. “But I was always very aware of the tennis program’s great tradition of success, and I am so happy to see that the tradition lives on.”

Photo courtesy of Glen Frieson

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