Boys Volleyball (19-9)
Officials Scoring Error Contributes to Breakers Loss
Breaker season fell short of expectations with a 25-19, 19-25, 25-27, 21-25 loss to South Pasadena in a match played at the South Pasadena Middle School gym. There, outside hitter Josh McManus announced a previously undisclosed ankle injury and did not compete.
Breakers seemed initially unfazed and easily rolled to the initial set win over the Tigers, who are led by Greg Luck, a 6-6 hitter and cousin to the NFL’s Andrew Luck. Pete Obradovich was the lead hitter in the initial set scoring seven kills on eight attempts.
In the second set, Laguna led early but allowed the hosts to tie the set at 13 then pulled away to win 25-19.
The controversy in the third set arose when a long hit by Tyler Alter was ruled out by a line official, causing the scoreboard operator to add a point to the South Pasadena total making the board to read 16-14.
The referee then motioned that there was a touch and awarded the ball and point to Laguna, but the scoreboard operator failed to remove the point awarded to the Tigers. A protest over the scoring error was dismissed by the umpire. A review of post-match video confirms the scoring error, which would have ended the set in Laguna’s favor.
This is the first time in my 20-years of high school volleyball a scoring error affected the actual set outcome.
Breakers started slowly in set four and tailed 6-2 at one point, but battled back to pull to a 21-22 score before two blocking errors and a hitting error handed the set and match to South Pasadena.
Tyler Alter and Pete Obradovich led Laguna hitters with 13 kills, Cole Paxson had 20 digs, Barry Greenough and Tyler Alter each had 4 ½ net blocks.
Breakers must wait until Sunday to see if they can snag one of the Southern Section’s 12 state regional playoff slots.
Last Thursday in the SSCIF second round, the Breakers defeated El Toro 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 at Dugger Gym as Sam Burgi pounded out 13 kills and three aces to lead Laguna. Laguna leads the all-time series with the Chargers at 22-2.
Sand Volleyball (10-1) – South Coast Division Champions
Laguna advance to the round of 16 on May 19 in Santa Monica (Annenberg Courts) to face Redondo Union. League web site: www.ibvl.org
Playoff seedings: 1 – Mira Costa, 2 – Mater Dei, 3 – Westlake, 4 – Sierra Canyon, 5 – Edison, 6 – Laguna Beach, 7 – Saddleback Valley, 8 – Marymount, 9 – Arroyo Grande, 10 – Alemany,
