Girls Tennis
Laguna’s girls tennis squad (2-5) continued to play top teams in preparation for another sweep of their league season. On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the Breakers edged Edison in games 77 to 71 after the match ended in a 9-9 tie. Double winners included singles players No. 1 Lauren Michaels, No. 2 Clare Jaeger, No. 3 Kira Hamilton and the No. 2 doubles team of Brooke Michaels/Bailey Jaeger.
Breakers lost to University 15-3 on Thursday and to San Clemente 16-2 this past Monday as illness thinned the starters. Laguna has won five consecutive league titles and 51 consecutive league matches entering last Tuesday’s league match with Estancia.
Girls Volleyball
Laguna 5th at Mohs Tournament
Breakers (5-4) played their best volleyball of the year rolling to a strong finish at the 32nd annual Dave Mohs Orange County Championships held last weekend. Laguna opened play with a 22-25, 25-16, 15-10 win over a tough Centennial/Bakersfield squad on Friday afternoon at Newport Harbor. Alyse Wallace-Ford had 21 kills while Marina Paul added 11. In the night match, Breakers easily defeated Murrieta Valley 25-19, 25-20 behind tough serving that recorded nine aces.
On Saturday Laguna defeated Orange Lutheran 25-15, 27-25 with the Breakers rallying from a 24-21 deficit to pull out the second set on tough blocking. In the Gold Division playoffs, Breakers won their rematch with last year’s CIF quarterfinal opponent, Yucaipa , with a 25-14, 25-23 sweep of the Thunderbirds.
In facing the county’s top team, Los Alamitos, Laguna could not break the tough-blocking Griffins, falling 25-19, 25-21. Los Alamitos went on to capture their third straight tournament title. Edison was second, Newport and Santa Margarita finished third, Laguna, Corona del Mar, Mater Dei and Huntington Beach tied for fourth in the 32-team D-I tournament.
This past Tuesday, Laguna opened their quest for their seventh straight league crown with a 25-9, 25-10, 25-17 win over Estancia at Dugger Gym. Wallace-Ford had 20 kills on 21 swings with no errors and Savannah Eisert came off the bench to deliver some tough serving against the Eagles with Laguna scoring 12 straight points during her serving rotation. Marina Paul also put on a show with five aces in the first set. The win was Laguna’s 51st consecutive league match win, still short of the school record 105 set between 1987-1999.
Laguna travels next week to Vista Murrieta for a crucial non-league match on Wednesday, Oct. 5. The match was originally a home match before the Breakers were forced to travel when their home court was re-scheduled for non-athletic use.
SSCIF D-IA Poll for September 26: 1 – Marymount, 2 – Corona del Mar, 3 – Laguna Beach 4 – Vista Murrieta, 5 – Valencia/Valencia, 6 – Notre Dame Academy, 7 – El Dorado, 8 – Saugus, 9 – Canyon/Anaheim, 10 – Yucaipa.
Boys Water Polo
Breakers 7th at South Coast Tournament
Laguna’s boys water polo (9-3) continues to play like a team that can repeat as D-III CIF section champions as the Breakers finished seventh in the 32-team South Coast Water Polo Tournament held at various South Orange County pools last week.
On Thursday, Sept. 22, Laguna crush Granite Hills(El Cajon) 16-3 with seven different players scoring. In the nightcap played at Capo Valley, the Breakers took San Clemente 9-2 with Riley Thomas scoring five goals. On Friday at the Capo pool, Laguna fell 16-10 to the State’s number one team, Mater Dei, as the Monarchs broke a tight 4-4 game with a five goal outburst in the second period to take control. On Saturday at Newport Harbor, the Breakers lost a tough 7-5 contest to long-time nemesis Corona del Mar but rebounded that afternoon to defeat Los Alamitos 7-6. Earlier in that week, Laguna crushed Mira Costa 18-7 at the local pool and defeated El Segundo 19-9 in a similar non-league match this past Tuesday. The big match coming up is the preview of the possible D-III CIF title games when No. 4 Palos Verdes visits for a match on Friday Oct. 14, and No. 2 Damian visits the local pool on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Match time is 4 p.m.
SSCIF D III Poll for September 26: 1 – Laguna Beach, 2 – Damian, 3 – Aliso Niguel, 4 – Palos Verdes, 3 – La Canada, 6 – Mira Costa, 7 – Capo Valley, 8 – Santa Monica, 9 – Peninsula, 10 – Tesoro.
