University falls after tough draw

If there was one team University coach John Kessler felt his team wouldn't stack up well with in the playoffs, it was Palos Verdes.

So Kessler was less than enthused when the girls tennis draws were released and pitted the Trojans against the Sea Kings in the quarterfinals. They met Tuesday, with Palos Verdes defeating University, 13-5, at University and advancing to Thursday's semifinals. It was the second time the Sea Kings beat the Trojans this year. They won a nonleague match, 11-7.

"I'm proud of the girls," Kessler said. "It was a great season. Palos Verde is better than us. They deserve to win."

The Trojans knew coming in they would be giving up an advantage in singles, and needed to counter it in doubles. However, the Sea Kings swept the singles, making it nearly impossible for a Trojans victory.

University trailed, 4-2, after the opening round. The No. 1 singles match between Uni's Ali Dawson and Palos Verdes' Kathryn Webb went to Webb, 6-4.

Palos Verdes also won the second round, 4-2, to build an 8-4 lead.

Two Trojans doubles teams won two sets each. They were the No. 1 team of Hayley Thompson and Nassim Radmehr and the No. 2 team of Megan Miller and Shannon Thiesen.

"I knew about two months ago we were going to play PV in the quarterfinals," Kessler said. "I thought about a lot of things we could do with the lineup. There just isn't a way for us to beat this team."

University finished the season 17-5, which included three close losses to county powers Dana Hills and Corona del Mar.

Corona del Mar 15, CAMS 3: The Sea Kings won the Division I match led by doubles pair Kelli Feeley and Azadeh Nazemi, who won their matches, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5. In singles, Hailey Hogan swept, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.