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Saturday, May 21, 2016

NJSIAA North 2, Group 2 semifinals
BOYS TENNIS:Fort Lee reaches section final for first time since 1985

Ferris' Steven Truong.

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

FORT LEE – Beverly Hills Cop, Rambo: Part II and Desperately Seeking Susan were high-grossing movies. Dominating the Billboard music charts were acts like Madonna, Phil Collins, and Wham! Gas was only a dollar a gallon and Nintendo had just made its way to the United States. Seem like a long time ago? That’s because it was. It was May 1985 and that represented the last time Fort Lee won a state section title in boys’ tennis. Heading into this season, head coach Phil Zappel felt his team had the potential to make a run at breaking the long drought. With a league title in hand and earning the top seed in North 2 Group 2, Zappel felt that it was his team’s destiny to play on its home court for a section title. To do that though they would have to face another upstart team in Ferris, which had just made school history of its own and was looking to add to it. Fort Lee took advantage of a referee’s ruling before the match to get off to a strong start and the Bridgemen never looked back, winning all five matches in straight sets to advance to their first section final in 31 years with a 5-0 triumph on Friday at the Fort Lee Recreation Courts. MORE...

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