Ojai 04/25/08 Sivan Krems, 12, of Thousand Oaks, hits the ball to Britta Mosser during the Girls 14 match at the 108th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Villanova Preparatory School in Ojai . Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff

Moira Hedberg, 14, smacks a forehand during one of her two matches in the Girls' 14 division at Villanova Prep. The Oxnard High freshman upset the seventh seed before losing to the fourth seed.

Photos by Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff Sivan Krems, 12, of Thousand Oaks hits a serve during a match against Britta Mosser in the Girls' 14 division at Villanova Prep on Friday.

A couple of streaks — one long and another short — turned out to be the difference as Sivan Krems earned a place in the semifinals of the Girls' 14 singles at The 108th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament on Friday afternoon at Villanova Prep.

Krems, a student at Colina Middle School in Thousand Oaks and seeded No. 3, trailed 2-1 in the first set of her quarterfinal against Kirra Simonson before capturing the next five games to secure the first set.

The second set was deadlocked 4-4, but Krems broke serve in the ninth game with aid of two Simonson double faults and served out the match for a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Krems wasn't the only Ventura County junior player to shine during Day 2 of the Ojai.

In the Boys' 16 singles, No. 1 seed Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks High dropped only five games in winning his round-of-16 and quarterfinal matches at Thacher School. In the Boys' 14 singles, No. 1 seed Michael Lowe of Ventura advanced to the semifinals, as did Thousand Oaks' Kyle McMorrow in the CIF Boys' singles.

Krems was almost joined in the Girls' 14 singles semifinals by Moira Hedberg. The Oxnard High freshman upset No. 7 seed Helen Decesare 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16, but was unable pull off a second upset, falling to No. 4 seed Alyza Benotto Wood 6-2, 6-3.

Despite being just 4-foot-11 and 80 pounds, the 12-year-old Krems plays an all-court game and is quite comfortable defending on the baseline or going on the attack. Utilizing two-handed forehands and backhands, Krems often frustrated Simonson, the No. 5 seed and a Weil Academy player.

"I felt I played my game and was able to move the ball around," Krems said following her victory over Simonson.

Krems, ranked in the top 20 nationally among 12-year-olds, joins the other three top seeds in today's semifinals of the Girls' 14 singles. Top-seeded Riko Shimizo, another Weil Academy player, has dropped only one game in winning her three matches to reach the semifinals. Shimizo will play Benotto Wood today, while Krems will face No. 2 seed Yuki Chiang of the Weil Academy.

Hedberg played confidently and efficiently in her round-of-16 victory over Decesare. In both sets the players were all even at 4-4, but Hedberg was able to win the final two games of those sets and win the match.

"I stayed a lot more consistent and focused than I usually do," Hedberg said after beating Decesare.

Hedberg was unable to duplicate that consistency in her quarterfinal. As the afternoon winds picked up, which challenged both players at times, Hedberg sprayed unforced errors on both her forehand and backhand as Benotto Wood took the first set 6-2.

Hedberg broke serve to open the second set, but unable to build any momentum. The second set featured a couple of rallies that reached 20 strokes — with Benotto Wood winning both of them. Benotto Wood eventually closed out the set at 6-3.

In the reaching the semifinals of the CIF Boys' singles, McMorrow had to rally for a three-set victory in his round-of-16 match — 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 over Florante Sarmiento of Carson. McMorrow, seeded No. 2, lost only three games in winning his quarterfinal. Today, he faces Walker Kehrer of Brentwood in the semifinals at 10:30 a.m. at Thacher and if victorious, would play in the championship match later in the day.

In the Boys' 14 singles, Lowe defeated fellow Ventura resident Brendan McClain (the No. 5 seed) in the quarterfinals, 6-0, 6-4. Lowe faces No. 3 seed Sammer Aziz of Santa Barbara in the semifinals today at Libbey Park at 8 a.m. Also reaching the semifinals was Thomas Pecor of the Weil Academy.

In the Boys' 16 singles, an early round-of-16 match featured Sean Levesque of Oaks Christian School against Darren Dahl of Westlake Village. Dahl, seeded No. 7, won the match 6-0, 7-5. Dahl upset No. 4 seed Alexander Gryaznov in three sets in the quarterfinals. Dahl will face Giron in the semifinals today at Libbey Park at 8 a.m.

Also reaching the semifinals in the Boys' 16 singles was No. 2 seed Billy Pecor of the Weil Academy. Pecor has yet to lose a set in his three matches.

— For more results, go to The Ojai's Web site: http://www.ojaitourney.org.