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Schools

Lippens Stunned in State Tennis Final

Shore Regional senior Michael Lippens suffered his first loss in two years when he was upended in the NJSIAA Singles Tournament final on Thursday.

One of the more brilliant scholastic tennis careers of the last 20 years in New Jersey met a disappointing end in Thursday’s NJSIAA Singles Tournament championship match.

Shore Regional senior Michael Lippens, who had not lost a match since falling in the state final as a sophomore, suffered an upset loss to Ramapo junior Jonathan Carcione. He became just the second player to defeat Lippens in his entire high school career, as Lippens’ previous three losses were all to 2009 Ocean graduate Mike Lampa.

Carcione won 7-5, 6-2 at Mercer County Indoor in West Windsor to claim his first state title and turn in one of the more stunning results of recent years. Lippens had become just the third player in state history and the first since 1998 to reach a third straight state final. He entered with a 53-match winning streak, and his 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over St. Augustine freshman Shane Monroe in the semifinals marked the first time he had even dropped a set to an opponent since losing to Lampa in 2009.

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Lippens had only dropped a total of 10 games coming into the state tournament and cruised through to the semifinals before his initial hiccup against Monroe. He entered the championship match with a career record of 100-3 and was bidding to become just the sixth player in state history to win two straight state titles.

Carcione, who finished 33-0 and is now 95-2 in his career, snapped a 5-5 tie to win the first set and rode his serve to a dominating second set victory.

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It ended an incredible career for Lippens, who will play tennis for the University of Louisville after finishing 28-1 as a senior. He is a four-time Monmouth County Flights Tournament champion and all 100 of his career victories came at first singles.

While it was a disappointing ending, it still can’t diminish one of the more dominant stretches by any player in the state in recent memory.

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