BOYS' TENNIS ROUNDUP: Long wait over as Lancers advance to finals.

Byline: Erik Boal, Special to the Daily News

For all the individual tennis accolades accumulated by seniors Alex Johnson, Denis Lin and Kyle McMorrow, they wouldn't have been satisfied with their careers at Thousand Oaks if a trip to the Southern Section Div. I championship match never materialized.

And the opportunity to compete in the program's first final in 37 years wouldn't have been as meaningful if it didn't come against University High of Irvine after a March 21 loss to the Trojans in a tournament final.

Following Tuesday's 11-7 semifinal victory over visiting Mater Dei of Santa Ana, the Lancers had both their wishes granted.

Lin and McMorrow joined sophomore Marcos Giron to sweep all nine singles sets and Johnson teamed with Tyler Bridges to win two crucial doubles sets for Thousand Oaks (20-1), which reached its first final since an appearance in the Div. 3-A title match in 1972.

The No. 2 Lancers will face top-seeded University (22-0) at 11:30 a.m. June 3 at Claremont Club.

"The team thing means a lot. If we didn't win (Tuesday), I would probably go home and cry," said the Stanford-bound Lin, who punctuated the win with a 6-3 victory over Chris Freeman.

"This was a huge challenge for us. We came in expecting Santa Barbara (which lost 10-8 to Mater Dei) and we didn't know a lot about Mater Dei. I was pretty antsy all day thinking about it."

Mater Dei (21-5) left the Wisconsin-bound Freeman in singles - hoping he could steal a victory against Thousand Oaks' formidable trio - and stacked its doubles lineup in an attempt to reach the first division final in program history.

Although Freeman opened with a 6-3 loss to McMorrow, a Washington signee, the Monarchs responded in doubles by winning all three sets - two in tiebreakers - to remain even entering the second round.

But after struggling with Freeman's serve through eight games, Giron finally broke in the ninth en route to a 6-4 victory in the second round. That win, combined with Johnson and Bridges defeating Brian Huang and Justin Agbayani 6-4, shifted the momentum in the Lancers' favor.

"That set meant a lot. It finally gave us the advantage," said Giron, who struggled early in the third round, before defeating Nick Picarelli 6-3. "It was really important because it finally gave us a little bit of a cushion."

With Johnson and Bridges adding a 6-3 win over Charlie Alvarado and Evan McNerney in the final round, and McMorrow not allowing a game his final two sets that cushion continued to be padded.

"We didn't even have our full team until the playoffs, but this shows what we're capable of," McMorrow said. "I really care how the team does. This is where we all thought we'd be and I'm glad we get to play (University) again."

University 13, Harvard-Westlake 5: The Wolverines (18-5) couldn't come up with a semifinal victory over University in their final match at Studio City Tennis Center.

Sean Kesluk and Brendan Kutler had a chance to force a 3-3 tie after the first round, but suffered a 7-6 (4) loss and the Wolverines couldn't recover. Jackson Frons also led John Huang 4-3, before the Trojans star rallied with three games.

Chris Kenney and Spencer Suk won twice and Kyle Martin-Patterson and Max Olshansky added a doubles victory for Harvard-Westlake.