Breakers link up big

Sasha Speare has turned in some outstanding performances on the golf course in recent weeks, and the Laguna Beach Breakers have been victorious during that stretch.

The Breakers defeated Ocean View, 247-309, with Speare earning medal honors by shooting 40 on par 36. Laguna also took care of Orange, 230-265, at Aliso Viejo Golf Club, where Speare medaled again, this time by scoring an even par 34. The Breakers also defeated Westminster, 211-256 and Speare was the medalist with a score of 32.

Girls’ Tennis

Laguna remained undefeated in Orange Coast League play and continued its recent winning trend by routing visiting Costa Mesa, 17-1.

The victory was the fifth straight for the Breakers.

Lyndsay Kinstler returned to the Laguna lineup and swept her three opponents by identical, 6-0 scores. Madeline Jaeger (No. 2, 6-0, 6-0, 6-2) and Alex Yates-Robinson (No. 3, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1) also swept in singles play.

Doubles action saw Laguna’s top two teams of Lauren Thigpen/Heather Tran (6-0, 6-1, 6-0) and Sarah Russell/Ali Hunter (6-2, 6-1, 7-5) also sweep the Mustangs.

Laguna returns to the court Tuesday to play at Costa Mesa. On Wednesday, the Breakers host Peninsula in nonleague play. The teams met last December in the CIF Southern Section Division I championship final, won by Laguna.

The Breakers resume league play Thursday with a home match against Calvary Chapel.

Girls’ Volleyball

Laguna earned a third-place finish Saturday at the 13th Annual Torrey Pines California Challenge.

The Breakers played four matches during the two-day event — which drew 24 top-rated teams — winning three.

Laguna opened the tournament on Oct. 13 with sweeps of Cathedral Catholic and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in pool play. On Saturday, the Breakers bested Vista Murrieta, ranked 21st nationally by PrepVolleyball.com, 25-11, 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 15-11. In semifinal round action Saturday, Laguna fell to La Costa Canyon, the top-ranked team in San Diego CIF Division I and No. 3 in the country, 25-22, 14-25, 25-23.

Archbishop Mitty defeated La Costa Canyon in the final.

In addition to Laguna Beach, Newport Harbor, Mater Dei, Tesoro, Brea Olinda, Dana Hills and San Clemente were the other county teams participating in the tournament.

During the tournament, every Breakers player contributed, led by Dana Hutchinson with 59 kills, 59 digs, six blocks and three aces. Zoe Garrett had 49 kills, 41 digs, six blocks and four aces, Piper Obradovich added 34 kills, 35 digs and four aces, Mychaela Miller finished 19 kills, 65 assists and three aces and Alex Palmer contributed with 83 assists and four aces.

“We played well,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said. “We played together with a little more consistency, which was good to see. The tournament was a good experience.”

Beginning today at Estancia, Laguna closes out its regular season with five Orange Coast League matches. In another upcoming league match, the Breakers play Wednesday at Calvary Chapel.

“We need to practice hard, to compete hard against each other,” Stewart said of his Breakers’ preparations for the stretch-drive of the season. “We also just need to come out and play more smoothly in our matches.”

Boys’ Water Polo

Laguna begins play today in the Tustin Tournament.

Action in the 16-team event concludes with championship-round action Saturday.

Last weekend, the Breakers played Newport Harbor in a nonleague match Saturday and suffered a 10-4 loss to the host Sailors.

Newport, ranked fifth in Division I, led just 4-3 at the half against Laguna (No. 5 in Division II) The Sailors took control of the match by outscoring the Breakers, 3-0, in the third quarter.

Nathan McConnell scored two goals and Peter Phelps and Cameron Brinkman each had one for Laguna. Harrison Phelps finished with seven saves.

“We were coming off a couple of easy league wins, but we really weren’t focused like we should have been for a big match like Newport,” Laguna Coach Rick McKee said. “The kids worked hard, but overall, it was a pretty weak performance.”

Following the Tustin Tournament, Laguna hosts Santa Margarita (No. 8 Division II) in nonleague play Tuesday and returns to Orange Coast League action Wednesday with a home match against Estancia.

Cross-country

The Laguna boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams will race today at the Mount SAC Invitational in Walnut.

In previous girls’ action, Laguna squared its Orange Coast League record at 1-1 following an easy 45-18 win over Calvary Chapel. Laguna runners claimed six of the top eight spots, led by first-place finisher Alex Crawley, who conquered the course at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa in 20 minutes 17 seconds.

Melissa Lenker finished second (21:15), Kelly McCarter was fourth (22:18), Chanel Brooks fifth (22.25), Kativa Strickland sixth (22:27), Zoe Heath seventh (22.44) and Margaux Reckard was eighth (23:07).

“Calvary Chapel did not have many girls on their team, so we were not pushed against them,” Laguna girls’ coach Earl Towner said. “Our real competition will be at CIF. At Mount SAC, we will run in the sweepstakes race to see how we match up with the other ranked Division IV teams.”

In boys’ cross-country action, Laguna easily disposed of league foe Calvary Chapel and had a few runners compete Saturday at the Orange County Championships at Irvine Park in Orange.

Laguna originally was scheduled to run Saturday at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Invitational, but due to SAT testing, boys’ coach Dave Brobeck was unable to take a full squad up north, so the Breakers stayed home and a few ran at the county championships.

Junior Yann Panassie was the top Breakers runner Saturday in the varsity race with a time of 16:26, good for a 39th-place finish. Junior Peter Hastings was in 53rd place (16:43) and sophomore Casey Finnerty was 75th with a time of 16:55.

“My varsity guys are biding their time right now and staying patient in their training,” Brobeck said. “We have to train hard through this month for us to have an effective peak Thanksgiving weekend.”

Following today’s Mount SAC Invitational, Laguna runs against league foe Costa Mesa on Thursday. League finals are Nov. 2, followed by CIF Southern Section prelims (Nov. 11) and finals (Nov. 18) and the California State Meet on Thanksgiving Day weekend (Nov. 25).

CIF-SS rankings:

Boys’ Cross-Country

Division IV: 1. Big Bear; 2. Laguna Beach; 3. Morro Bay; 4. Oaks Christian; 5. Maranatha; 6. St. Joseph’s/Santa Maria; 7. Harvard/Westlake; 8. Crespi; 9. Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks; 10. Paraclete.

Girls’ Cross-Country

Division IV: 1. Maranatha; 2. Marlborough; 3. La Reina; 4. Paraclete; 5. Morro Bay; 6. Laguna Beach; 7. Westridge; 8. Louisville; 9. Big Bear; 10. Desert Christian.

Girls’ Volleyball

Division II-AA: 1. Corona del Mar; 2. Laguna Beach; 3. Ayala; 4. St. Lucy’s; 5. Oxnard; 6. South Hills; 7. La Habra; 8. Troy; 9. Norco; 10T. St. Joseph/Lakewood, Irvine.