League play proves easy

Finding little resistance from Estancia, the Laguna Beach High girls’ volleyball team began defense of its grip on Orange Coast League supremacy Tuesday by handing the host Eagles a 25-8, 25-7, 25-10 loss in the league opener for both teams.

The win moved the Breakers to 6-2 overall. The Eagles fell to 3-13.

“Estancia was a little undermanned, and the scores reflect that,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said. “Everybody had the chance to play.

“Caroline Holte is starting to play with a lot of confidence in the middle and I thought Alex Palmer served very tough. Marissa Greenough played aggressive off the bench and had a couple of big kills, and that was great to see. She’s only a sophomore. We had the chance to play a lot of sophomores in the game.”

Holte led Laguna with 11 kills, Palmer had 14 assists, Greenough had three kills and Chanel Stewart had six kills.

Laguna has had its way against Estancia throughout the years. With Tuesday’s win, the Breakers improved to 39-0 all-time against the Eagles in best-of-five matches.

Laguna, ranked fifth in CIF Division 1-A, faces a stiff challenge Saturday when it takes on Long Beach Poly in the Steve Lewis Festival at Lakewood High. The Breakers and Jackrabbits, ranked second in Division 1-AA, meet at 4 p.m.

“They’re tough,” Stewart said of the Jackrabbits. “They jump really well and a quick and athletic. If they have a weakness, it’s ball control. But they make up for that with their athleticism.”

Next week, Laguna returns to league play. The Breakers host Godinez Tuesday and play at Costa Mesa on Thursday. Both matches begin at 5:45 p.m.

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Girls’ Tennis

Laguna Beach was dominant Sept. 30 in its Orange Coast League match against Calvary Chapel, coming away with a 15-3 home court victory.

Seniors Bianca Sganga and Haley Moss swept in singles and the teams of Kate Rogers/Katelyn Walsh and Lia Berger/Parker Poche’ swept in doubles.

The Breakers improved to 2-0 in league and evened their overall mark at 4-4.

Rain washed out Tuesday’s home league match against Godinez and Wednesday’s nonleague match at Santa Margarita.

Next week, the Breakers are home Tuesday to Saddleback and on the road Thursday at Estancia in league action.

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Cross-Country

The Orange Coast League Cluster Meet was held Sept. 30 at Centennial Park in Santa Ana and the Laguna Beach girls finished first and the boys second in the varsity competitions.

The cluster included Laguna Beach, Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, Estancia, Godinez and Saddleback.

Laguna won the girls’ title with 28 points and was followed by Godinez (52), Costa Mesa (68), Estancia (79) and Saddleback (117). Junior Natasha Strickland won the girls’ varsity race in 19 minutes 37.88 seconds. The Breakers also took places seven through nine with senior Taylor Capobiano (20:35.82), senior Carly Savage (20:40.27) and freshman Audrey Rodriguez (20:50.15). Rodriguez was the top finishing freshman in the girls’ varsity race.

Another freshman, Marlee Grosher (20:59.44), finished in 13^th place, junior Marisa Merchant (21:29.41) placed 18^th and sophomore Grace Clark (21:43.22) was 19^th.

“I thought the girls ran really well, our strongest race this year, by far,” Laguna girls’ Coach Steve Lalim said. “We are definitely moving in the right direction.

“The season is going to start to get really exciting here in the next few weeks. We’ll be firing when it counts.”

The Laguna boys (52 points) finished second in the varsity standings behind Godinez (30). Taking third was Saddleback (61), followed by Costa Mesa (100) and Calvary Chapel (108).

Laguna junior Jeff White finished third 16:18.14) in a boys’ varsity race won by Godinez sophomore Jose Penaloza. Laguna junior Tyler Nichols (16:33.16) was seventh, Senior Aaron Swartz (16:57.43) was 13^th, junior Ryan Jones (16:58.22) was 14^th, sophomore Mitch Kimball (17:04.88) was 15^th and junior Tim Williams (17:26.85) was in 19^th-place.

Breakers boys’ coach Scott Wittkop said that senior Matt Neev had “the week off,” and didn’t compete at the cluster.

“We finished second as a team, but we know the (league) finals is where it really counts and we believe that we will do very well there,” Wittkop said. “When you add Matt Neev, Alec Toro and a healthy Aaron Swartz to the mix, we will have a really competitive top five.”

Both Breakers teams are scheduled to run Saturday at the Clovis Invitational.

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Girls’ Golf

The Breakers upped their Golden West League record to 8-1 on Tuesday by defeating host Ocean View, 268-324, at Meadowlark Golf Course (par 36) in Huntington Beach. Christianne Kinder was medalist with a score of 50.

The Breakers improved to 10-2 overall.

On Sept. 30, Laguna was a 236-288 winner against host Orange at RiverView Golf Course (par 34) in Santa Ana. Kinder, who shot a 44, again was medalist.

In the coming week, Laguna wraps up league play by hosting Loara on Tuesday and Westminster on Wednesday. Both matches begin at 2:30 p.m. at San Clemente Golf Course.