It’s Now or Never for Taft’s Mann

With the City Section singles championship twice having eluded him, Taft High’s Dylan Mann will get one final try.

Mann, a senior, defeated Dorsey’s Robert Williams, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals of the section individual tennis tournament at MountainGate Tennis Club.

Mann, who lost to Williams for the title two years ago and missed the tournament last year to attend a relative’s funeral, will play defending champion Noah Newman of Marshall on Friday at 1 p.m.

Newman defeated Danny Westerman of Palisades, 7-5, 6-4.

In doubles, James White and Jason Weissbrod of Granada Hills, the only remaining Valley team, lost in the semifinals.

In losing to top-seeded Jung Cho and Adam Pennella of Palisades, 6-1, 7-5, No. 3 White and Weissbrod suffered their only loss of the season, finishing 22-1.

“It didn’t seem like we had the fire today,” said White, whose team blew a 4-0 lead in the second set. “Maybe we were too relaxed.”

Mann recalled how he yielded a 5-3 lead in the third-set tiebreaker to Williams in 1994 before losing, 6-7, 6-2, 6-7. This time Mann made few mistakes while breaking Williams’ serve three times.

Said Mann: “Things went his way the first time we played. Things went my way this time.”