High School Roundup: Laguna looks to bounce back

Rivals Laguna beach and Corona del Mar took to the court Wednesday for a key, early-season match between ranked girls’ volleyball teams.

The Breakers came out on the short end of a four-game match.

Corona del Mar broke a 1-1 tie in the match by winning the final two games at Dugger Gym to defeat the host Breakers, 25-19, 14-25, 25-16, 25-17.

Laguna came into the match with a No. 10 preseason ranking in CIF Southern Section Division 2AA. Corona del Mar was ranked third preseason in Division 1AA.

“Overall, I was happy with our performance, but in little stretches,” Laguna Coach Raúl Papaleo said. “We played well at times but we need to be more consistent for longer periods. That’s where we want to get to.

“We came back to win that second game pretty handily, and that was great to see against a team that is in the top 25 nationally, and ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps. But, we couldn’t maintain that level of play.”

The Breakers opened their season Sept. 3 at Santa Margarita and the host Mustangs won by a 25-18, 25-16, 25-12 sweep. Jamie Robbins had seven kills and six digs for the Breakers.

Laguna competes this weekend at the Dave Mohs Tournament. The Breakers open pool play at 3:30 p.m. Friday against Huntington Beach at Huntington Beach High. The tournament continues Saturday and concludes with finals action on Monday at Edison High.

The Breakers also play at nonleague match Tuesday (5:15 p.m.) at JSerra.

Laguna is the No. 3-seed in its pool play bracket behind No. 1-seed Huntington and No. 2-seed Tesoro. Canyon/Anaheim is the fourth and final seed in the pool.

“Our goal at the tournament is to always finish first or second in our pool,” Papaleo said. “Huntington Beach will be a tough test and this tournament will be a good measurement as to where we stand.”

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Girls’ Tennis

The Breakers opened their season Sept. 3 at Mission Viejo and took a 15-3 victory from the host Diablos.

Laguna swept doubles action with the No. 1 team of Natasha Keces/Ashley Fair winning 6-2, 6-1, 6-0, No. 2 Malia Helms/Iman Berri won, 6-4, 6-0, 6-0, and No. 3 Chloe Stuart/Lina Gleizer won, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0.

In singles, No. 1 Kelly Keller won the two sets she played (6-3, 6-2), and No. 3 Summer Clawson won two of three sets (6-0, 1-6, 6-1). At the No. 2 line, Ashley Shelton (6-1) and Kathleen Kimball (6-1) each won a set.

Laguna’s scheduled nonleague match Wednesday against San Clemente was called due to rain and windy conditions. The Breakers took on San Juan Hills Thursday in nonleague play. The score wasn’t available at press time. Next week, they play Tuesday at Chino Hills (3 p.m.) and host Mater Dei at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

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Girls’ Golf

The Breakers played two three matches in their first full week of the season, dropping two matches to Dana Hills and one to Saddleback Valley Christian.

In the Sept. 3 opener at El Niguel Country Club golf course (par 36) in Laguna Niguel, Dana Hills scored a 214-302 victory over Laguna. Breakers’ team captain Hailey McCullough was the low scorer (score not available) for Breakers. Dana Hills junior Joan Soewondo was the match medalist with a one-over par 37.

In a Sept. 3 match at Ben Brown’s Golf Course in Laguna Beach, Dana Hills took a 185-249 victory from Laguna. Soewondo shot an even-par 32 to again take medalist honors. BellaRose Robinson of the Breakers shot a team-low 43.

In a match Wednesday at Ben Brown’s, Saddleback Valley Christian scored a 250-264 win over the Breakers. Robinson’s 42 score paced the Breakers, and Annika Gino shot one-under par for medalist honors.

The Breakers return to match play Tuesday and take on Sage Hill at 3 p.m. at Strawberry Farms Golf Course in Irvine. They tee off a second time against Saddleback Valley Christian at 3 p.m. Thursday at Shorecliffs Golf Course in San Clemente.

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Cross-Country

The Laguna Beach girls’ and boys’ teams opened their respective seasons at separate invitationals Saturday. The Breakers girls were third behind first-place Newbury Park and second-place San Luis Obispo.

Laguna results (three-mile run): Grace LaMontagne (19:51.40, fifth-place); Taylor Alvarez (20:06.86 (ninth); Pearl Shoemaker (20:27.77 (17th); Ana Kelly (20:29.40, 18th); Lauryn Alvarez (20:53.35, 22nd); Molly Cohn (20:58.29, 25th); Hannah Konkel (21:14.36, 31st); Bella Fonk (21:29.08, 35th); Sabrina Flagstad (22:08.86, 51st); Caleigh Cherrie (22:24.93, 60th); Ellie Glade (22:27.66, 62nd); Callista Helms (23:25.06, 81st); Emily Engel (24:16.69, 105th); Hannah Vogel (25:03.70, 113th); Mara Eftimie (26:16.15, 130th); Avonie Nunn (26:49.57, 134th); Grace Sauers (27:28.14, 136th); Charlotte Watkins (27:31.63, 137th); Mia Imbernino (28:56.80, 139th); Olivia Cole (29:12.53, 140th); Jaclyn Cortelessa (29:12.72, 141st); Cloe Goria (29:13.50, 142nd); Sidney Kimball (30:51.91, 143rd); Emmi Cole (32:43.65, 144th); Claire O’Connor (32:52.68, 145th); Sophia Airey (33:20.59, 146th); Lauren Allen (34:07.47, 147th); Anna Madigan (34:14.79, 148th).

“I thought we opened up the season on a positive note,” Coach Steve Lalim said. “It’s always great to get the first race under the belt and get that race feeling back. We’ll continue to work and get better every day. Every meet is a stepping stone toward CIF. We’ll be ready to take the next step.”

That “next step” for the Breakers comes next week when they travel to Hawaii to compete Sept. 19 at the Iolani Invitational. The junior varsity team will compete Sept. 18 at the Woodbridge Invitational at Orange County Great Park in Irvine.

The Laguna boys were in Chino for the Cool Breeze Invitational. The Breakers finished in 10th-place at El Prado Golf Course.

“It was a good start to the season,” Coach Scott Wittkop said.

Laguna times at the invitational: Drake Butler (16:25.85, 13th-place); Tim Andrews (17:04.32); Luc LaMontagne (17:06.48); Massimo Lucidi (17:29.96); Jaden Orr (17:36.21); Will Kramer (17:43.20); Dylan Miller (17:44.12); Tim Loughlin (18:07.00); Carter Fraser (18:13.70); Aryton Svenson (18:15.87); Cal Nielson (18:18.71); Sebastian Fisher (18:18.76); Zachary Falkowski (18:33.04); Luke Colburn (18:38.80); Alex Bonnin (18:40.70); Conner Farley (19:04.60); Jake Mangus (19:14.84); Leo Pesquero (19:15.73); Gabe Sivetts (19:25.24); Carter Sokolovic (19:43.35); Collin Johnson (19:57.37); Kevin Smith (20:04.84); Wyatt Shipp (20:44.05); Louis Skaist (20:48.10); Caleb Hardy (20:58.17); Jake Onodera (21:11.81); Max Blanchard (21:38.90); Cameron Tipton (21:44.81); Zac Bonnin (21:47.57); Cale Airey (22:18.84); Shasha Kvitsinski (23:27.68); Conner Giofreddi (24:05.64); Cole Hunt (24:06.58); Sam Reynolds (25:21.48); Michael Mead (26:13.32); Luke Pacheco (28:04.37); Ben Vogel (32:34.22).

The Breakers will compete Sept. 19 at the Iolani Invitational. The lower-level Laguna teams will compete Saturday at the Laguna Hills Invitational.

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Boys’ Water Polo

The Breakers, defending CIF-SS Division 3 champion, open their 2015 season at No. 1 and this weekend at the 24-team Santa Barbara Invitational.

The Breakers open their home schedule next Thursday hosting El Toro at 4:15 p.m. The Chargers were ranked No. 7 preseason in Division 2.

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CIF Weekly Rankings

Boys’ Water Polo: No. 1, Division 3

Girls’ Volleyball: No. 10, Division 2AA

Cross-Country: Girls, No. 1, Division 4); Boys, No. 10, Division 4.

Girls’ Tennis: Not released

Girls’ Golf: Not released