Clean sweep for Lancers at league tennis tournament

2009-05-14 / Sports

Thousand Oaks freshman Josephson stuns Calabasas' Gartman in singles final
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

In a span of 10 minutes, the Thousand Oaks High boys' tennis team won the Marmonte League Tennis Championships' singles and doubles crowns.

Lancer freshman Brendon Josephson, who turned 15 the day before Tuesday's league finals, earned a belated birthday treat with an upset singles victory over Calabasas senior Josh Gartman, 6-3, 6-2.

Lancer teammates Denis Lin and Marcos Giron, the defending CIF-Southern Section doubles champions, shared the doubles league title with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Mitch Krems and Zach Drost of Westlake.

"It feels real good for Thousand Oaks to have both the singles and doubles (titles)," said Josephson, who played the majority of the regular season at No. 2 doubles.

"Winning both feels more special."

Josephson used his lateral quickness and a variety of offspeed shots to oust Gartman, who also lost in the league singles finals as a junior.

Gartman, who defeated No. 1 seed William Duncan of Newbury Park 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals, was impressed with Josephson's savvy play.

"He gets every ball," Gartman said. "He's like a wall."

Josephson defeated Newbury Park's Sean Huxley 7-6, 6-1 to reach the finals.

"This was probably one of my best matches," the freshman said of his title victory. "I mixed it up well. . . . I got to a lot of balls I didn't think I would get to, but I didn't give up on them."

Lin and Giron cruised to the championships with a first-round bye and back-to-back 6-0, 6-0 wins against Nick Sweetman/ David Yoo of Newbury Park and Brett Buford/Mark Schwartz of Calabasas.

Thousand Oaks coach Dave Assorson thinks Lin and Giron are still favorites to retain their section doubles championship.

"Their chemistry is great," the coach said. "Denis is a hard hitter and Marcos is a skilled shotmaker. I can't see anybody beating them."

Assorson, however, was impressed with the play of his precocious freshman.

"I knew he'd be competitive, but Brendon played really well and surprised everyone," Assorson said. "He did better than I thought."

The CIF-SS team playoffs begin today.

Thousand Oaks plays host to San Marcos; Calabasas plays at home against Dos Pueblos; Oaks Christian plays at home against an undetermined foe; Westlake plays at HarvardWestlake; Newbury Park is at Palos Verdes; and Oak Park plays at Torrance.

All matches are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

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