The six players were all key in the victory over Los Alamitos on Tuesday. Photo by Candice Reavis
Girls Volleyball (15-15, 3-3)
On Tuesday, the Breakers celebrated Senior Night honoring their six senior players then swept Los Alamitos 25-12, 25-12, 25-16 to earn at least a chance for an at-large spot in the SSCIF DII playoffs. That line-up will be announced at 10 a.m. on Oct. 16 at cifss.org.
Their selection would mark the 47th time in the past 50 years Laguna has advanced to post season. No playoffs were held last year. A special playoff against Los Alamitos (16-17, 3-3) was held on Oct. 13 at Edison to determine which team would receive the automatic spot for second place in the Surf League. If the Breakers win the playoff, Los Alamitos does not advance. Should Los Al win, Laguna can still be considered for an at-large spot since the playoff is not considered part of the regular season per SSCIF.
Against the Griffins on Tuesday, Laguna’s crushing serves (15 aces with only 4 errors) five net blocks and a .337 hitting percentage never gave the visitors a chance. The eight-player rotation proved very effective. Natalia Hagopian had eight kills, seven aces, 13 digs and 22 assists while Sophie Reavis had 14 kills, and Sara Johnson, a sophomore, had her best outing with three kills, three aces, and three block assists at middle. The crowd was the largest of the season and provided the home team with plenty of support.
Last week, Laguna lost a tough four-set match to league champion Huntington Beach 22-25, 20-25, 33-31, 22-25 at home. The first set was played in Dugger Gym but a power-outage/maintenance issue forced the match to finish in the North Gym (1935). It was only the third time the volleyball team has been forced to play in the old gym in the past 47 years. Two league matches were played in October 1997 due to scheduled maintenance on Dugger Gym and the 2003 team had to play five matches at Thurston due to work on Dugger Gym being scheduled during the girls season.
Breakers led 18-16 in set one before the Oilers pulled away while set four was tied at 21 before Huntington pulled off the win. The exciting third set was tied numerous times and the Breakers had set point our three occasions before finally pulling off the win. Sophie Reavis had 26 kills while Sydney Freeman banged out a career high 18 on 32 swings. Reavis also had four aces and 12 digs against the visitors.
Senior Night was celebrated on Oct. 12. The senior six players lost their entire junior season of competition when California became one of a handful of states to ban indoor volleyball. Two of the six played their first two years on Varsity and will leave their mark in the top-ten career totals for Laguna:
Natalia Hagopian
Ranks fifth in career set assists
Set a 4-set match record with nine service aces against Foothill
Tied a 5-set match record with nine service aces against Dana Hills on Aug. 24
Sophie Reavis
Ranks ninth in career kills, seventh in career kills per set played
Ranks fourth in single season kills per set
Hit 20 or more kills in eight matches
The other four seniors are Jacquelyn Witteman, Eva Gardner, Lucy Laughlin, and Sydney Freeman.
Game statistics, YTD totals, and match video highlights are available on Max preps.
Football (6-1)
87th League Campaign Begins
Breakers will start their quest for the program’s 15th league crown on Oct. 15 at Westminster High School for the Golden West Conference – Pac 4 League opener. Laguna lost their meeting with the Lions in April 27-21 for the 2020 season league contest but should be able to turn the tables this week. At 6-1 on the season, Laguna is on pace for the best record since 2012 when they finished 11-1-1 and 2021 could be among the 10 best seasons in school history.
Next week, the Breakers return to Laguna on Oct. 22 for 65th Homecoming Game with Ocean View. The Sea Hawks defeated the Breakers 28-21 in April and 27-20 in 2019. This will be an event worth attending at Guyer Field.
Season Leaders:
Passing: Will Bingham 206-139-5 1,805 yards and 24 touchdown passes.
Rushing: Jack Arntz 40 carries, 272 yards
Receiving: Luke Degner 46 catches, 662 yards 11 touchdowns, Ryner Swanson 25-334 yards, 2 TDs, Jacob Diver 11-267 yards 6 TDs, David Dworakowski 16-223 1 TYD, Miles Freeman 14-149 yards
Interceptions: 2 – Jack Arntz and Aidan Mulkay
Playoff bound – but to what division?
Baring injuries – Laguna seems to be on-track to make the playoffs for the 20th time in 87 seasons. Brackets will be released on Oct. 31 at cifss.org about 12 p.m. There are 373 schools in the Southern Section competing in 11-man football. A maximum of 224 schools will be placed into 14 divisions based on the regular season power ratings a change to the previous pre-assigned division format. Laguna is currently ranked 141 with 172 teams are expected to be automatic qualifiers. Rankings are posted at calpreps.com.
Game Program & Rosters
There will not be paper game rosters this season, fans can go to breakersfootball.com and access the free digital football program for 2021
Boys Sand Volleyball (1-2)
With the beaches reopened, the squad returned to action this past Wednesday facing Servite. Look for results next week.
Cross Country
Laguna traveled to Woodward Park in Fresno for the 42nd Annual Clovis Invitational this past Saturday in the Central Valley. Held on the State CIF course, the meet grouped schools into five divisions, a Champions flight, XL, L M, and small schools.
The Boys finished second to San Mateo’s The Nueva School in the 24-team small school race with a team time of 85:25. More importantly, they finished ahead of Oaks Christian who had been ranked ahead of the Breakers in last week’s Southern Section CIF poll. Scoring for Laguna (place) were Mael Metis (7), Chris Drews (8), Alex Boyd (25), Luke Anderton (28) and Theo Drews (50)
On the Girls side, Laguna was missing star runner Melanie Falkowski but finished fourth in the 25-team small school run captured by San Francisco’s University High School. Oaks Christian was second , St. Mary’s (Berkeley) third.
Scoring for the Breakers (Place) were Coco Reed (9), Ellie Marshall (27), Morgan Zevnik (31), Anoua Carrie (32) and Tess Smialowicz (33).
Southern Section CIF Division 4 Poll for Oct. 11:
Boys: 1 – Cathedral, 2 – Laguna Hills, 3 – Big Bear, 4 – O Lutheran, 5 – Laguna Beach, 6 – Oaks Christian, 7 – Harvard-Westlake, 8 – St Francis, 9 – Ocean View, 10 – Burroughs/Ridgecrest
Girls: 1 – JSerra, 2 – La Canada, 3 – Oaks Christian, 4- Laguna Beach, 5 – Bishop Amat, 6 – Harvard-Westlake, 7 – El Segundo, 8 – So Pasadena, 9 – O Lutheran, 10 – Covina
Girls Golf (1-8, 1-4)
Breakers edged Newport Harbor 220-224 on Oct. 12 to earn a Wave League victory. Scoring were: Gabby Finkelstein – 41, Mollie Moran – 43, Jaden Shalala – 44, Julianna Franconi-Krychman – 44, and Brooklyn Conlon – 48 Last week Laguna fell at Corona del Mar (3-1, 3-5) on Oct. 7 245-220 and lost earlier in the week to league leading Marina 222-253 on Oct. 5. League dual match play for 2021 concluded this past week with home match against Marina
Girls Tennis (4-4, 1-0)
A healthy Laguna squad had no problems defeating Marina 14-4 on their courts in the Wave League opener on October 7. The Vikings (7-10) may be the toughest league opponent this season with Laguna hosting Edison and Fountain Valley this past week. Last Tuesday, the squad was missing a singles player and dropped a 10-8 match to Los Alamitos in a non-league cross-over contest with the Sunset Surf League played on the Laguna courts.
Boys Water Polo (10-7, 1-2)
Laguna continued their dominance of Corona del Mar blasting the Sea Kings 12-3 in a contest played on Oct. 6
In the loser’s pool. The Sea Kings scored first at the 6:10 mark in the first period but Sai Bassett tied the score less than a minute later. From there, Nick Hoffs (5 goals) and Will Kelly (3 goals) provided the power to swamp the hosts. It was 8-2 Laguna by the intermission. Holden Seybold added a pair of scores and Diego Audebert also scored. The Breakers JV and Frosh-Soph teams also won over CdM.
Breakers travel to Atherton from Oct. 14 to Oct. 16 for the North-South Tournament hosted by Sacred Heart Prep. Follow at northsouth.shschools.org. Breakers are seeded fifth in the 16-team event and will open on Friday facing Orinda’s Miramonte High School
Playoffs: The top eight teams will be selected for the open division. The remaining Division 1 eligible teams will be placed in D1. Overall there will be seven divisions plus the open. Pairings will be released on Oct. 30.
TOP 10 SSCIF D1 POLL for Oct. 11:
1-Mater Dei, Huntington Beach (TIE) , 3 – Newport Harbor, 4 – Harvard-Westlake, 5 – O Lutheran, 6 – JSerra, 7 – Foothill, Laguna Beach, Loyola (TIE), 10 – Los Alamitos, 11 – Palos Verdes, 12 – Santa Barbara, 13 – Oaks Christian, 14 – Mira Costa, 15 – Long Beach Wilson, 16 – Santa Margarita, 17 – Corona del Mar, 19 – Los Osos, Other: Beckman, Damien, Dana Hills, Dos Pueblos, Northwood, Redondo, Riverside Poly, San Clemente, Woodbridge.
Looking for the latest Laguna scores, rosters, and schedules?
Go to the department website at lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/teams for the updated schedules and where the scores get posted first for all levels.
