High School Sports Update

Fall Sports Now Underway

By Frank Aronoff | LB Indy

Football

80^th Varsity Season Opens Friday, Sept. 5

Coach Corey Brown takes his squad to the Bolsa Grande Stadium in Garden Grove for the opening contest in Laguna’s 80^th varsity campaign. Breakers will face host Bolsa Grande, who finished last season 3-7 including a 48-17 loss to Laguna at Guyer Field. Laguna leads the all-time series 7-3. Laguna has four tougher non-league games before opening the league schedule with Costa Mesa on Oct. 10 at Scott Field/Estancia HS.

Laguna will face University at home on Sept. 12 and St. Margaret’s on Sept. 26 in a pair on non-league contests.

Boys Sand Volleyball

Inaugural Season This Fall

Coach Darren Utterback, fresh from the successful indoor season last spring that saw a trip to the section finals, a state regional title and a # 10 final state ranking by Cal Hi Sports, has taken the core returning squad to Main Beach  for Laguna’s first season of sand volleyball. Breakers have passed on the AAU’s Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League program that features 23 high schools to join a new Orange County League organized by Newport’s Dan Glenn for this fall season.  The roster, schedule and format will be posted next week.

Girls Volleyball

Breakers open season on Thursday, Sept 4 at Santa Margarita

After a disappointing early exit from the playoffs last season, the Breakers learned in the off-season the Orange Coast League was demoted to Division 2-AA for the playoffs, the third of 10 divisions for the sport based on a subjective view of the league strength. Breakers won that division in 2006 and 2007 when the league was initially assigned to the division after CIF’s 10-year run with enrollment based playoffs.

Coach Raul Papaleo returns the core of his team that went 20-10 last season and the squad is expected to be a top 100 team in the country and a definite contender for the 2AA section title. Helping the squad has been the transfer from Torrey Pine by Jamie Robbins, a 6-1 lefty opposite that has a killer line shot. Robbins is a junior and will be a treat to watch the next two seasons.

Breakers still have many of the same issues that plagued the squad last year and will need to get a consistent line up to achieve their potential. The second week of the season is a challenge with a trip to Corona del Mar on Sept. 9, the home opener with J Serra on 9-11 and the Orange County/Dave Mohs Tournament on Sept. 12 and 13.

Breakers are expected to win league and extend their 80-match winning streak dating back to 2005. Laguna has won over 90% of their league matches in 42 seasons winning 35 league crowns.

Last weekend, Laguna participated in the last summer tournament with Foothill’s Queens Court Tournament at the ASC in Anaheim. Breakers defeated Citrus Valley, Hesperia, Buena, and Canyon/Anaheim before losing a tough 26-24, 25-22 match to eventual champion Santa Margarita in the 48-team event.

2014 Varsity ROSTER

Girls Tennis

Season Starts on Sept. 5 at San Juan Hills.

Laguna’s 41^th season of CIF sponsored girls tennis will start next week as Don Davis returns for his fourth season at the helm of the Breakers. Laguna will be looking to extend their 81 consecutive league match win streak and their ninth straight league title this season. Breakers remain in Division 2 where they advanced last season to the quarterfinals.

2014 Varsity Roster:

Iman Berri, junior, Summer Clawson, sophomore, Summer Dvorak, senior, Ashley Fair, junior, Bailey Jaeger, senior, Kira Hamilton, senior, Malia Helms, junior, Katrina Hynson, senior, Natasha Keces, junior, Kelly Keller, freshman, Kathleen Kimball, sophomore, Madeline Loomis, senior, Olivia Morrison, senior, Josie Sandoval, senior, Ashley Shelton, junior, Brigette Thomas, junior

Boys Water Polo

Breakers open season Sept. 9 at Cathedral Catholic

Coach Ethan Damato is expecting another top season from the polo squad when the Breakers open the season next week.  Seniors Jack Dodson and Cade Baldridge lead a stellar group with Jakob Colladay the key underclassman.

Damato (Laguna ’00) is 131-57 in six seasons guiding the boys and is 28-0 in league matches, 16-4 in CIF including two section crowns. Expect a third this season. Breakers return to Division 3 after two trips to the Division 2 semifinals the past two seasons due to the league strength evaluation. Laguna’s best challenge in the playoffs, Murrieta Valley, will visit the Laguna Community Pool on Oct. 16 in the key seeding showdown. Laguna will also participate in three major state tournaments this season with the Santa Barbara TOC Sept. 11-13, South Coast/Newport Tournament, Sept. 25-27, and the North-South Challenge in Northern California Oct. 24-25.