University, Troy to Have Battle of Unbeaten Boys’ Tennis Teams

The county’s only two undefeated boys’ tennis teams, University and Troy, will meet at 3 p.m. today in the Southern Section Division II semifinals at University High.

University (18-0) waltzed into the semifinals Tuesday with a 13-5 victory over Thousand Oaks. The Trojans, paced by its nationally ranked singles trio of Aaron Yovan, Henry Mak and Jack Li, won six of nine singles sets against the Lancers. Troy is 25-0, but has looked vulnerable in the playoffs, beating Foothill, 10-8, in the quarterfinals and squeaking by Burbank on games, 71-64. The Warriors’ best player has been freshman Jeff Das, who won two sets against Burbank.

In the other Division II semifinal, unseeded Sunny Hills (17-6) will play second-seeded Brentwood at Rancho Park. Sunny Hills, led by senior singles player Joseph Kao, won four Division II titles in the 1990s.

In Division I, defending champion Corona del Mar (21-6) will travel to Studio City Golf and Tennis Club to face second-seeded North Hollywood Harvard Westlake (24-3-1).

Corona del Mar will need big-time performances from singles players Cameron Ball and Brian Morton and their No. 1 doubles team of Michael Bean and Peter Kulmaticki.

The Harvard Westlake Wolverines will be without their No. 1 singles player, junior Prakash Amritraj, who is preparing for the Wimbledon junior tournament. But they have three solid singles players--Andrew Rosenfeld, who reached the Ojai quarterfinals, Jesse Ferlianto and Aron Gortman.

Two of Harvard Westlake’s defeats have been to top-seeded Palos Verdes Peninsula. Harvard Westlake has won three consecutive section titles, but none of them have been in Division I.

In the other Division I semifinal, fourth-seeded Los Alamitos (18-3) will host undefeated Peninsula at Old Ranch Tennis Club.

In Division III, fourth-seeded Woodbridge (17-6) will play top-seeded Westlake (19-0) at North Ranch Country Club in Thousand Oaks. Westlake, which has lost three consecutive section finals, is led by senior Alex Yaftali, who is in the section individual singles round of 16. Woodbridge, which has been to three of the last four Division I finals, is led by singles players Bret Van Linge and Jon Sheridan.