High School Roundup: Laguna sweeps to another crown
The Laguna Beach High girls’ volleyball team put the finishing touches on another perfect run through Orange Coast League competition Tuesday by sweeping Godinez.
The Breakers took the match, 25-12, 25-15, 25-13, at Dugger Gym.
The win completed a 10-0 league season for Laguna and put the third-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 3 at 16-10 overall.
Leading the Breakers in kills was opposite Cameron Dorn with 10, middle blocker Alexandra McKeown and opposite Jamie Robbins led in digs with seven each, and Briana Boyd (19) and Aspen Rocha (12) led in assists.
In defeating Godinez Tuesday, Laguna registered its 90th consecutive league victory, which is the eighth such longest streak in CIF Southern Section history.
The Breakers previously won their 89th straight league match and sewed up the OCL championship in the process on Oct. 30 when they swept host Calvary Chapel, 25-7, 25-20, 25-19. Outside hitter Sabrina Stillwell had 19 kills and 10 digs, Robbins 10 kills and 11 digs, libero Francie Holte 11 digs, and Rocha and Boyd had 23 and 14 assists, respectively.
The Eagles, who trailed Laguna by one game in the league standings at the time of the match, had a chance to move into a first-place tie had they defeated the Breakers.
Laguna concluded regular season play with a Wednesday nonleague game at Sage Hill, the top-rated team in CIF-SS Division 3AA. The score wasn’t available at press time.
The Breakers begin postseason play at 7 p.m. next Tuesday and will host a first-round game at Dugger Gym. The CIF-SS playoff pairings will be announced Friday .
“We have improved our serving tremendously and our middles are in good rhythm,” Laguna Coach Raul Papaleo said. “We face a very strong team (Sage Hill) and need to be very consistent in every aspect of the game to beat them. I think (tomorrow’s) match will set the tone for our performance at CIF.”
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Boys’ Water Polo
The Breakers clinched the Orange Coast League title by easing past Costa Mesa, 21-8, in an Oct. 30 match that determined the league champion.
Both teams entered the game with 4-0 league marks.
Jakob Colladay punished the nets for a game-high eight goals and Cade Baldridge and Trent Sadler both scored four goals, to lead the rout. Jack Dodson had a game-best four assists, Baldridge, Aki Andersen, Greyson Benson and Sebastian Jacobs each had three assists, Andersen had six steals, and goalie Garret Hartley had eight saves.
Laguna, the top-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 3, improved to 19-6 overall. The Breakers took on fifth-ranked Capistrano Valley in a key division nonleague game Thursday. The score wasn’t available at press time.
The Breakers complete their regular season Saturday with a 2 p.m. nonleague game at Santa Margarita. The Eagles are ranked ninth in Division 1.
“We were excited to win another league championship and take one step closer to clinching the No. 1-seed in the (CIF) playoffs,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said.
The Breakers, who have held down the top ranking in CIF-SS Division 3 throughout the season, are in line for the division’s top-seeding. The playoff brackets will be announced Sunday. The Breakers will host a first-round game next Wednesday .
“There are a lot of question marks within the division as a lot of teams have not played each other,” Damato said. “We won’t be looking past any team in any round and will be ready for four tough games if we want to win a CIF championship.
“We feel like we need to be at our best in the next two weeks. It’s an exciting time of the year.”
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Cross-Country
The Laguna boys’ and girls’ varsity teams were idle this past week. The Breakers are back in action Nov. 15 when they compete at the CIF Southern Section Cross-Country Championships Division 4 prelims meet Nov. 15 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.
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Boys’ Sand Volleyball
The Breakers captured the championship of the Orange County High School Beach League postseason tournament Monday by defeating Huntington Beach, 5.50-1.0, Monday at Grant Street in Newport Beach.
Laguna, which tied for first place in the South Division of the league, defeated a Huntington team that won the North half of the league standings. Eight teams, four from each division, competed for the tournament title.
Scores from Monday’s final for the Breakers: Jack Burgi/Reed Donenfeld lost, 13-21, 18-21; Dane Olson/Cole Paxson won, 21-8, 21-19; Tyler Alter/Nick Rieckhoff won, 21-17, 21-19; Pete Obradovich/Adam Lythgoe won, 21-7, 21-12; Liam Christiansen/Tyler Jackson won, 20-22, 22-20, 15-6; 4-man team of Donenfeld, Olson, Paxson and Jack Burgi won, 15-21, 21-18, 15-10.
To get to the final, Laguna had to defeat a Newport Harbor team the Breakers shared the South title with. They did just that, scoring a 5.5-1.0 semifinal victory Oct. 30 at Grant Street.
Laguna scores: Olson/Paxson won, 21-16, 21-13; Rieckhoff/Burgi lost, 10-21, 20-22; Alter/Donenfeld won, 21-12, 16-21, 15-7; Lythgoe/Obradovich won, 21-16, 21-16; Christiansen/Jackson won, 21-8, 21-9; 4-man team of Burgi, Paxson, Alter and Donenfeld won, 23-21, 21-18.
The Breakers won the tournament title in their first year in the league.
Boys’ Water Polo: Laguna Beach (No. 1, Division 3).
Girls’ Tennis: Laguna Beach (No. 6, Division 2).
Girls’ Volleyball: Laguna Beach (No. 3, Division 2AA).
Girls’ Cross-Country: Laguna Beach (No. 3, Division 4)
Boys’ Cross-Country: Laguna Beach (No. 5, Division 4).
CIF Weekly Rankings