Thousand Oaks on Short End of Tie

After winning a quarterfinal match Tuesday that finished in a tie, Thousand Oaks was not as fortunate Thursday in a semifinal tied in sets.

Irvine University won the final two sets for a 9-9 tie and edged the Lancers, 82-79, in games in a Southern Section Division II boys’ tennis semifinal at Thousand Oaks.

“I thought we played well against a very good team,” said Ron Hedin, who became Thousand Oaks’ coach after Dave Assorson broke a leg seven weeks ago. “We just came a few games short, which is disappointing.”

After falling behind, 4-2, in the first round and, 7-5, after the second, the Lancers won four consecutive sets to take a 9-7 lead.

University’s No. 1 doubles team of Scott Morgan and Philip Osztermann beat Thousand Oaks’ No. 3 team, Willem Suckow and Jason Korniski, 6-3.

The Trojans’ No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Anson Hsu and Jeff Lawrence beat the Lancers’ No. 2 team, Darius Amiri and Jayme Reynolds, 6-2, to decide the match.

Second-seeded University (19-3) will play top-seeded Harvard-Westlake, a 13-5 winner over Sunny Hills, in the final Tuesday.

Sophomore Phil Sheng won his three sets for Thousand Oaks (19-4), which upset third-seeded Loyola on Tuesday in a match decided in a tiebreaking-round, 10-8, after the sets were tied, 9-9, and games were even, 75-75.