High School Roundup: Breakers amid success again

The Laguna Beach High girls’ volleyball team is closing in this week on winning yet another Orange Coast League championship.

The Breakers were a step closer to claiming their eighth straight OCL title after they disposed of visiting Estancia Tuesday, 25-10, 25-9, 25-10, at Dugger Gym. The victory put the Breakers at 8-0 in league. A win Thursday at Calvary Chapel would sew up an outright league crown.

The score from Thursday’s game wasn’t available at press time.

In Tuesday’s win, Kelsey Paul had eight kills and Briana Boyd 12 assists for the Breakers.

Laguna improved to 48-0 all-time against Estancia, and won their 88th-consecutive league match.

The Breakers, ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division 2AA, ran their overall record to 14-10. Estancia fell to 1-7 in league and 2-13 overall.

Laguna closes out its league schedule next Tuesday (5:15 p.m.) at home against Godinez. They end their regular season Wednesday with a 5:15 p.m. nonleague game at Sage Hill, the top-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 3AA.

“We played consistent,” Laguna Coach Raul Papaleo said of the win against Estancia. “We have been able to fix many things about our game to be able to play at a high level against Sage Hill and at CIF.

“I’m way more confident with the lineups we have structured now, going into the last part of the season.”

The CIF Southern Section girls’ volleyball playoff pairings will be announced Nov. 7.

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Girls’ Tennis

Orange Coast League champion Laguna hosted the opening round of the OCL tournament Wednesday, and the Breakers advanced two singles players and three doubles teams to the tournament semifinals.

In singles action, No. 1-seed Summer Dvorak and No. 2-seed Kira Hamilton both won two matches to advance. Ashley Fair, Laguna’s third singles entry and the No. 4 seed, won her opener but dropped a tough, three-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals.

Laguna’s doubles teams of No. 1-seeded Bailey Jaeger/Kelly Keller, No. 2-seeded Ashley Shelton/Madeline Loomis, and No. 3-seeded Natasha Keces/Malia Helms, each won two matches Wednesday. One doubles semifinal pitted Shelton/Loomis against Keces/Helms.

“All the girls played well,” Laguna Coach Don Davis said. “Ashley Fair lost a heartbreaker and the doubles (teams) dominated their matches, including a match won by Keces and Helms over the Nos. 2 and 3 singles players from Calvary Chapel. Their coach put them in doubles, hoping that they could beat our doubles players.”

The OCL semifinals and finals in singles and doubles were played Thursday. Results weren’t available at press time.

The CIF Southern Section girls’ tennis team playoff brackets will be announced Monday. Laguna will play host to a first-round match Wednesday.

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Girls’ Golf

Breakers Halle Redfearn and MaryKate Quellmalz competed Monday at the CIF Southern Individual Regional Tournament at Dad Miller Golf Course (par 71) in Anaheim.

Redfearn, the Orange Coast League champion, shot 96 and finished in a two-way tie for 108th-place. Quellmalz, runner-up to the OCL title, shot 103 and placed 115th. The top 30 low scorers, who shot 75 or below, advanced in the tournament.

Quellmalz qualified for the CIF regional for the second consecutive year.

Ysabel Tran of Fullerton Troy and Bethany Wu of Diamond Bar both shot 66 to finished tied for first place. Tran then won a card-off playoff (32-34, back 9 holes) to win the tournament.

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Boys’ Water Polo

The Breakers set up a showdown with Costa Mesa by routing visiting Saddleback Wednesday, 24-4, in Orange Coast League play.

The win put Laguna at 4-0 in league, the same record as Costa Mesa, which on Wednesday defeated rival Estancia, 15-4. The defending champion Breakers and Mustangs met Thursday to decide the OCL title. The score wasn’t available at press time.

The Breakers (18-9 overall) were led in scoring by Sean Whitlock with four goals. Jakob Colladay and Cade Baldridge both scored three goals, and Greyson Benson, Nolan Del Toro, Connor Hauer, Trent Sadler and Judge Washer each scored once. Aki Andersen and Camden Benson both had three assists and Gordon Pike had seven saves.

In previous action, Laguna, the No. 1 team in CIF Southern Section Division 3, took a fourth-place finish last weekend at the North-South Challenge in northern California.

Laguna earned the highest team placement among public schools in the tournament, Breakers Coach Ethan Damato said.

The Breakers began the two-day tournament on Oct. 24 and defeated both Atherton Menlo (8-6) and Atherton Sacred Heart Prep (14-11). On Saturday, they lost to both Mater Dei, the No. 2-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 1, 17-3, and Los Angeles Loyola, ranked third in Division 1, 9-6.

“It was a great tournament for us, overall,” Damato said. “The guys played some of the best water polo we have played all year and showed a lot of growth from our last tournament we played in. It was fun being able to play two NorCal teams on Friday and get some schemes and tactics thrown at us.

“It was also great being able to play teams like Mater Dei and Loyola on Saturday. While we did not have the result we wanted against either team, playing teams of that caliber makes us better in every area and really exposes our weakness individually and as a team.”

Next week, the Breakers travel to Capistrano Valley for a 3:15 p.m. nonleague game against the Cougars.

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Boys’ Sand Volleyball

The Breakers, in their first year playing the sport, finished in a tie for first place in the South Division of the Orange County High School Beach League by defeating the Monarchs, 6.5-0.0 in their final match of the league regular season.

Laguna, which shared first place with Newport Harbor, both at 6-1, was one of eight league teams to advance to the postseason playoffs, which got underway this week. The top four teams in the South and North divisions qualified for the postseason.

The tournament final is Monday.

The final divisional standings are:

South: 1T. Laguna Beach, Newport Harbor; 3. Corona del Mar; 4. Edison; 5. Tesoro; 6. Irvine; 7. Fountain Valley.

North: 1. Huntington Beach; 2. Los Alamitos; 3. Marina; 4. Monarchs; 5. Orange Lutheran; 6. Servite; 7. Esperanza.

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CIF Weekly Rankings

Boys’ Water Polo: Laguna Beach (No. 1, Division 3).

Girls’ Volleyball: Laguna Beach (No. 3, Division 2AA).

Girls’ Tennis: Laguna Beach (No. 6, Division 2).

Girls’ Cross-Country: Laguna Beach (No. 3, Division 4).

Boys’ Cross-Country: Laguna Beach (No. 5, Division 4).