Girls volleyball battled the Sea Queens, ranked fourth in the county, late into every set but the talent-laden hosts were able to close out each game to earn a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 victory against Laguna this past Tuesday, Sept. 18, at Corona. Breakers (3-2) ranked No. 8 in the county led 19-18 in the first game off strong play from Alyse Ford, Julia Goggin , Sevana Dvorak and Briana Boyd. But much like what happened the previous week with Newport, they failed to finish.
In the second set, Corona (6-4) went out to a 5-1 lead but Laguna battled back to take a 15-14 lead. The third set was dominated by Corona early on but Laguna battled back on kills by Sabrina Stillwell, a solo block by Sami Harting (three for the match) and a string of kills by Ford.
Overall, Ford led the Breakers and all players with 23 kills and two aces, Juila Goggin added eight kills two aces and seven digs in her best outing of the season. Dvorak had 33 assists. Sea Kings lead the all-time series for best-of-five set matches at 29-17.
Laguna participates in the 32-team D-I Mohs Orange County Championships this weekend. Breakers will face Upland, Beckman and a very tough Harvard-Westlake squad in pool play at Newport Harbor. The match with Harvard-Westlake is slated for 9 a.m. Saturday morning and will have a big impact on post-season seeding for Laguna. Breakers finished fifth the past two years in this annual event, last winning the tournament in 2006.
League play begins next Tuesday at home as Laguna shoots for their eight straight league crown and their 34th in the past 41 seasons.
SSCIF D-IA Rankings for 9-17: 1 – Laguna Beach, 2 – St Lucy’s, 3 – Harvard-Westlake, 4 – Thousand Oaks, 5 – La Salle, 6 – El Dorado, 7 – Valencia/Valencia, 8 – El toro, 9 – Notre Dame SO, 10 – Aliso Niguel
