Thousand Oaks Suffers Net Loss to University

The Thousand Oaks High boys’ tennis team found top-seeded Irvine University too strong, too deep and too much.

University thrashed the Lancers, 13-5, in a Southern Section Division II quarterfinal match Tuesday at Thousand Oaks.

Thousand Oaks fell behind , 5-1, after the first round of round-robin competition and never rebounded.

The Trojans (18-0) led, 10-2, after the second round.

University faces Fullerton Troy in a semifinal match Thursday at a site to be determined.

The Trojans advanced to last year’s Division II title match by beating Thousand Oaks in a semifinal. The teams tied, 9-9, but University won on games, 82-79.

This time, University took an early lead and never was challenged.

Philip Sheng, defending section individual champion who is 32-1 in dual-match sets, swept at No. 1 singles. But that was the only highlight for Thousand Oaks.

“It kind of [stinks] to lose to the same team two years in a row,” Sheng said. “But they’re definitely the better team.”

The Lancers struggled in singles against Aaron Yovan, Henry Mak and Jack Li, all among the top 25 players in Southern California in the U.S. Tennis Assn.’s boys’ 16 division.

Each won two of three sets and the No. 1 doubles team of Jeff Lawrence and Anson Hsu swept three sets for the Trojans.

“We just wanted to get an early lead and stay hot. And we did,” Yovan said.

Thousand Oaks played without senior Darius Amiri, a No. 1 doubles player who missed the last eight matches because of a broken finger.

The Lancers were left even more short-handed when No. 2 singles player Andrew Lieu was forced to retire at the start of his third set, against Li, because of a strained hip muscle.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” Lieu said. “But I thought it would be closer than this.

“These guys are solid. They’ve come a long way. I give them the championship, I think.”

University defaulted one of its third-round sets.

No. 3 doubles player Mike Frank, who has been battling mononucleosis, played with Michael Haier and won, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), in the first two rounds. But Frank felt too weak to continue.

“I’m happy to get past this round,” University Coach Jeff Hammond said. “Now we’re at that spot where we need to buckle down and see how far we can really go.”

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TENNIS ROUNDUP: Wolverines cruise past Camarillo in quarterfinals. Page 9