Big playoff comeback for Burroughs

Boys' tennis: Burroughs downs Beverly Hills, 10-8, to earn spot in first semifinal in program history.

May 18, 2011|By Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com

(Tim Berger Staff…)

BURROUGHS HIGH — The boys' volleyball team is not the only Burroughs High program making history these days.

The Indians boys' tennis team made a little history of its own Tuesday, defeating Beverly Hills, 10-8, in a CIF Southern Section Division II quarterfinal match at Burroughs.

With the win, Burroughs (12-3) advances to the semifinals for the first time in program history. The Indians, the runner-up from the Pacific League, will take on Palm Desert in a final-four match at 3 p.m. next Tuesday on the road.

No. 1-seeded Palm Desert (19-1), winner of the Desert Valley League, defeated Walnut, 13-5, Tuesday in a quarterfinal match.

Burroughs has made it to the semifinals after finishing the regular season not among the top 10-ranked teams in the division.

In Tuesday's win, the Normans (8-8) — the No. 2 team from the Ocean League — took a 4-2 lead after the first of three rounds. The Indians lost two close ones in the opening round, dropping two sets by tie-breakers.

However, the Indians came surging back, winning the second round, 5-1, after some big rebound efforts.

No. 2 singles player Calvin Fox lost in the first round, 6-7(5-7) only to rebound and win his next two sets, 6-4, 6-1. No. 3 singles Michael Whelan did the same, opening with a 2-6 loss only to bounce back to win, 6-4, 6-1.

"As bad as I felt after losing that first one, I just couldn't lose any after that," Whelan said. "I had to win my last two."

Burroughs also received a strong effort from No. 1 singles player Garrett Auproux, who swept, 6-0, 6-4, 6-0.

"I knew that [Beverly Hills] had a group of tournament players, but they aren't real top tournament players," Auproux said.

In doubles, the No. 2 duo of Wen Yao Lin and Oscar Lam won two, 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, while the No. 1 team of Kevin Hoang and Phillip Lam won one, 4-6, 6-7(4-7), 7-6(7-0), as did the pair of Brian Hoang and Eric Lee, 0-6, 1-6, 6-7(4-7).

The Indians went into the final two sets of the day ahead by just one game, and they didn't want to end the match, 9-9, and have to rely on games for the win."

That apprehension was erased when Fox defeated his third-round opponent, 6-4, to give Burroughs its all-important 10th set win.

"We got down, but we made it back," Burroughs Coach Roy Bernhardt said.

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