Breakers fall in battle against Mater Dei

The Laguna Beach High and Mater Dei girls’ tennis teams were locked in a tight nonleague match Wednesday at Alta Laguna Park, a match that ended with the host Breakers being edged by the Monarchs, 10-8.

The score was tied, 3-3, after the first round of play, and 6-6 after the second round.

“The girls played a great match, and it was close all the way,” Laguna Coach Don Davis said. “Our singles players performed well the entire match, with Kelly Keller sweeping, but our doubles play at times was

‘flat’ and in a close match, this makes all the difference.”

Keller swept at the No. 1 singles line with scores of 6-1, 6-0, 6-2. Ashley Shelton won twice at No. 2 singles, 3-6, 7-6, 6-1.

Laguna was to pay a nonleague match Tuesday at Chino Hills but it was anceled due to rain.

In a previous match Sept. 10, the Breakers downed visiting San Juan Hills, 14-4. In singles, Keller won the two sets she played (6-0, 6-0), Shelton swept her three sets (6-0, 6-1, 6-0), and No. 3 Summer Clawson won two of three sets (2-6, 6-2, 6-1). In singles, the No. 2 team of Malia Helms/Iman Berri swept (6-1, 6-3, 6-4), and the team of No. 1 Natasha Keces/Ashley Fair (6-0, 6-0, 0-6) won two of three.

Laguna, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 2, is back on the court Monday for a 3 p.m. nonleague match at Alta Laguna Park against El Toro. The Breakers begin their Orange Coast League title defense Tuesday when they host Costa Mesa also at 3 p.m. at Alta Laguna Park. They host league foe Godinez at 3 p.m. Thursday.

“I think that the girls are playing well, and are poised to win another league championship,” Davis said.

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Boys’ Water Polo

Laguna, the top-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 1, opened their season last week at the Santa Barbara Tournament. The Breakers posted an overall record of 3-2.

The Breakers opened the tournament with a strong performance against Santa Barbara San Marcos (No. 6, CIF-SS Division 2), but ended up with a 9-7 loss.

“We played a great opening game against San Marcos, and did much better than I expected,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “It was a one-game goal in the fourth quarter, but we couldn’t close it out. That loss dropped us to the bottom part of the tournament but after that, the good thing is, we won three-straight before losing our final game.”

After the San Marcos loss, Laguna defeated Cerritos (No. 2, CIF-SS Division 4, 16-2), Dos Pueblos (15-6) and Palo Alto Gunn (11-9), before being edged by Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos (No. 7, CIF-SS Division 2, 9-7) in its finale.

“Overall, I was pleased with how we did,” Damato said. “We got better from start to finished, which was great to see.”

The Breakers played their home opener Thursday against El Toro. The score wasn’t available at press time. Next week, they open play Thursday at the South Coast Tournament.

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Girls’ Volleyball

The Breakers went to JSerra Tuesday for a nonleague match and the host Lions came away with a 25-21, 25-23, 26-28, 25-22 victory.

For Laguna (3-6), senior outside hitter Sage Patchell had 12 kills and 14 digs, senior middle blocker Cameron Dorn and senior outside hitter Katelyn Carballo (12 digs) 11 kills apiece, and junior opposite Lucy Fontenot had eight kills. Senior setter Aspen Rocha had 24 assists and 25 digs, junior defensive specialist Kendyl Brennan 20 digs and 11 assists, and sophomore setter Chloe Edep 10 digs and 22 assists.

At the Dave Mohs Tournament which concluded Monday at Edison High, Laguna, ranked fourth in CIF-SS Division 2AA, reached the finals of the Bronze Division. The Breakers fell in the final to Orange Lutheran which scored a 25-22, 25-20 victory.

The Breakers went 3-3 overall at the tournament. Following opening losses to Huntington Beach (No. 9, Division 1AA, 25-19, 25-20) and Tesoro (25-19, 25-19), they defeated Canyon/Anaheim (20-25, 25-19, 15-12), Peninsula (25-17, 25-11, Bronze Division quarterfinals), and El Dorado (25-16, 25-14, Bronze semifinals).

The Breakers are in Las Vegas for the Durango Fall Classic which starts Friday and runs through Saturday. The host Dana Hills next Thursday in a 5:15 p.m. nonleague match.

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Girls’ Golf

The Breakers were upended, 244-276, Tuesday by host Sage Hill at Strawberry Farms Golf Course in Irvine.

Laguna scorers from the match were as follows: BellaRose Robinson, 48; Murphy Thompson, 49; Haley Rovner, 56; Hailey McCullough, 57; Brooke Bunn, 66, Hannah Burnett, 68.

Laguna took on Saddleback Valley Christian Thursday. The score wasn’t available at press time. The Breakers host Sage Hill at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ben Brown’s Golf Course, and start their Orange Coast League schedule Wednesday with a four-way match at Mesa Linda Golf Course in Costa Mesa.

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Cross-Country

The Breakers are in Hawaii this weekend for Saturday’s Iolani Invitational.

Laguna’s freshman boys’ team took first place in its division at the Laguna Hills Invitational last Saturday. The first 30 athletes to cross the finish line received a medal, and the top seven were scored for the win. Laguna’s top seven freshmen runners were (in order): Cal Nielson (17:55), Sebastian Fisher (18:02), Zack Falkowski (18:47), Leo Pesquera (19:11), Carter Sokolovic (19:17), Colin Johnson (20:31) and Caleb Hardy (20:35).

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CIF Weekly Rankings

Boys’ Water Polo: No. 1, Division 3

Girls’ Tennis: No. 4, Division 2

Girls’ Volleyball: No. 4, Division 2AA

Cross-Country: Girls No. 5, Division 4; Boys No. 10, Division 4