The 79th sports season is here for the Maroon and White as Laguna’s fall sports got underway the week prior to school’s opening day. First to meet competition will be girls volleyball and football.
Girls Volleyball
Coach Lance Stewart’s squad, ranked No. 8 in the county and No. 1 in CIF’s Division-IA, participated in the fourth annual Queens Court tournament this past weekend at the American Sports Center in Anaheim. The preseason affair included 63 varsity teams participating in two divisions. Breakers were in the top 16-team division where they defeated Murrieta Valley 25-16, 25-20 before dropping a 25-20, 25-21 match to eventual champion Dana Hills and an equally tough 21-25, 25-19, 15-13 loss to Santa Margarita. Alyse Ford dominated at outside hitter with 14 kills against the Dolphins and 28 against Santa Margarita. Also playing well was Sevana Dvorak at setter along with middle blockers Amanda Kimball and Sami Harting. Liberos Seneca Jakosky and Francie Holte battled for play time. Seven of the 15 varsity players are freshmen or sophomores.
The regular season opened this Thursday at home against Norco. Breakers will host J Serra on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 5:30 p.m. and Santiago/Corona next Saturday, Sept. 8 , with a 1:15 p.m. afternoon start.
Other non-league matchups this year include Newport Harbor (Sept. 11), @ Corona del Mar (Sept. 18), @ Mira Costa (Oct. 3) Long Beach Poly (Oct. 13) @ Lakewood HS, and @ Dana Hills (Oct. 30) to conclude the season. Breakers are competing in their 41st run for the CIF playoffs. Laguna is one of the most successful girls high school programs in Southern California with 33 league titles, five section titles, two state finals, competing against schools with much larger enrollments and depth. Breakers have advanced to at least the semifinals the past eight seasons.
Football
Breakers hope to continue their success when the season opens Friday, Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. at Bolsa Grande in Garden Grove. Laguna returns the core 12 starters from last year’s record-setting offensive squad that went 10-3, averaging a record 45 points per game. The Matadors were 4-6 last year and are expected to be about the same while the Breakers are expected to be a contender for the section title, last won by Laguna in 1946.
Expect a shootout Friday with Laguna leading the series 5-3: 1993 Laguna 34-6, 1994 Bolsa 12-10, 1995 Laguna 17-6, 1996 Bolsa 25-23, 1997 Bolsa 37-7, 2001 Laguna 34-14, 2002 Laguna 39-0, and 2003 Laguna 28-20.
Alumni Report
Collegiate teams are also underway in some sports. Marina Paul (’12) is starting for Georgetown (4-0) women’s soccer and scored a goal against George Washington. The Hoyas will challenge Notre Dame for their Big East division title. Allison Palmer (’12) is the starting setter for Arizona State (3-0) in wins over Idaho State, University of Texas at El Paso, and Fresno. Her sister Alexandra (’09) is the setter for Minnesota (2-0), which opened their season with a pair of wins over James Madison and Appalachian State.
Send your alumni updates to Frank Aronoff at [email protected].
