TAFT BOYS IN TENNIS FINAL.

Byline: Erik Boal

Special to the Daily News

The lineup is still evolving, but the results remain the same for the Taft of Woodland Hills boys' tennis team.

Since a nonleague loss to Westlake in March, Toreadors coach Tom Wright has experimented with several singles lineups and doubles pairings with one match in mind.

Although Wright has three more days to explore his options, Taft's work-in-progress lineup got the showdown it wanted in the City Section championship match.

The top-seeded Toreadors cruised past No. 4 Van Nuys, recording a 20-4 1/2 victory Monday in a match shortened by mutual agreement of both coaches, securing a rematch with No. 2 Palisades of Pacific Palisades in Friday's final at Balboa Sports Complex.

Palisades, which suffered a 21-8 1/2 loss to Taft in last year's final, advanced to its fourth straight championship match with a 22 1/2-7 triumph over third-seed Eagle Rock (13-2).

"I actually feel less comfortable than I did last year," Wright said. "They're a lot better than they were last year. They're singles look stronger and they're doubles are always decent. We'll probably have to make some changes with our lineup."

With the assistance of Josh Tchan and Justin Gold, Wright made all the right decisions last year with Taft's lineup, helping the Toreadors survive a grueling semifinal match with rival Granada Hills before their triumph over Palisades, clinching their third City title.

Wright will likely be consulting Tchan and senior co-captains Aaron Teitelbaum and A.J. Minasian the next few days to give the Toreadors (14-1) the best opportunity at defending their title Friday.

"We have a lot of depth," said Teitelbaum, who teamed with Alex Freeman to win their doubles sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. "We might make some changes for Friday, we'll just have to wait and see."

Tchan swept his four singles sets and David Engelberg captured three before his final set against Kevin Huong was halted when the outcome of the match was decided.

Minasian and Jim Wellman won both their doubles sets and Jurig Samoilov also won three in singles for Taft, which led 7-1 1/2 after the first round.

Palisades led 7 1/2-1 following the first rotation, but Eagle Rock was left to wonder what could've been had it won more crucial points like it did in Wednesday's quarterfinal victory over Granada Hills.

The Eagles lost two sets 6-4, one by a 7-5 margin and another in a tiebreaker, resulting in Eagle Rock's fifth semifinal loss in six years.

"Give Palisades all of the credit, they stepped up. They're the better team," Eagle Rock coach Eric Jacobson said. "Those sets weren't why we lost the match. But when you work so hard in a close set and you find yourself still at zero (points), it's hard to regroup."

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