Laguna Beach boys’ volleyball outlasts Edison in Orange County Championships opener
It may be the third time around for Lance Stewart as the Laguna Beach High boys’ volleyball coach, but his competitive fire is still burning bright.
Opposite Geste Bianchi is enjoying the challenge Stewart issued, one that has called for the Breakers to become a more physical team.
“We’re working hard,” Bianchi said. “Our coach is having us do like 300 push-ups every other practice, which is kind of crazy. We’re getting stronger.”
Bianchi was ready to carry the load for the Breakers, as he had 18 kills, 2½ blocks and two service aces to lead Laguna Beach to a 25-20, 26-28, 15-9 win over host Edison in a pool-play match of the Orange County Championships on Friday afternoon.
Outside hitter Andrew Reavis, a UC Santa Barbara commit, added 12 kills for Laguna Beach (7-2), which beat El Toro 28-26, 25-19 in its second match of the day. The Breakers end pool-play action against Corona del Mar at Edison on Saturday at 9 a.m.
With both of the Breakers’ pin hitters now in their senior season, Bianchi says the time is now for Laguna Beach to take aim at a deep run in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
“I think this is the best we’re going to be for a long time,” Bianchi said. “Once Andrew [and I] leave, I don’t think Laguna is going to have a big chance to win CIF, so we’re really going for that.”
Laguna Beach took fourth place in the season-opening Tesoro Tournament, which saw the Breakers fall to eventual champion Huntington Beach 25-18, 25-14 in the semifinals.
Stewart felt that the Breakers relied too much on the duo of Bianchi and Reavis in that match.
“You want to have balance,” Stewart said. “We didn’t have balance against Huntington Beach. The first set, we didn’t set our quick attack one time, and we aren’t going to win with Andrew and Geste putting away balls all the time. If you watch closely, the middles are always flowing to one or the other. They’re in no position to stop an average quick attack, and I think we have an above average quick attack. We’ve just got to get them to believe that.
“We were five for six or six for seven in the middle in that game [against Edison], and that’s great for us. Now, they can’t push out to Andrew and Geste, so that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”
High School Boys’ Volleyball Preview: Could the Surf League produce another CIF Division 1 champion?
The last three CIF Southern Section Division 1 titles have been won by Newport Harbor and CdM, teams that reside in the Surf League, one of the top leagues in the nation.
Milo Zegowitz led the Breakers’ middle blockers with three kills and two blocks. Josh Meiswinkel also provided 33 assists, three kills and three blocks at setter.
Outside hitter Sam Warren had a team-high 13 kills for Edison (4-7), and the Breakers knew he was the one they had to account for defensively.
“We focused mainly on trapping him on whatever pin he was on, so the middle and whatever outside blocker we had would trap him,” Meiswinkel said. “The opposite pin would go for the middle and the other pin, so we tried to trap Sam as much as possible.”
There were also times that Stewart did not feel that his team was engaged in the match to his satisfaction, and he was animated in a couple of timeouts during the second set.
“I get a little excited, but I only get excited when they’re not playing with passion and doing their job and just kind of going with the flow,” Stewart said. “I felt that was what we were doing, so every once in a while, they need a kick on the butt. I try to pat them on the butt more. They know I care about them.”
Davey Singer handed out 24 assists for Edison. Damon Kooiman had seven kills and 1½ blocks, Evan Kowalke added two kills, two blocks and an ace, and Owen Shaff chipped in with two kills and two aces.
“What we did today was immensely better than what we have done this entire year,” Chargers coach Elias Perez said. “Our attitude was great, our body language was good, [and our] attention to detail was great.
“Laguna is just a great team, and all I asked my guys to do that match was just battle. Just battle against a good team, and that’s exactly what they did. I could not be more happy with that performance right there.”
Huntington Beach defeated Woodbridge 25-18, 25-23 and Canyon 25-13, 25-16 to win its pool on Friday in the Orange County Championships at Edison.
The Oilers (9-1) had only three teams in their pool with Capistrano Valley dropping out.
Newport Harbor did not drop a set in defeating JSerra 25-14, 25-17 and Lakewood 25-16, 25-22.
The Sailors (8-2) will finish pool play with a match against Tesoro on Saturday at 9 a.m.
Corona del Mar beat El Toro 25-13, 25-18 and Edison 25-16, 25-17.
The Sea Kings (3-0) have a chance to win their pool when they face Laguna Beach on Saturday.
Quarterfinal matches will follow the final pool-play matches on Saturday. The semifinal and final matches will also be on Saturday at Edison.
Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.
For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
