Sweeping to a repeat

A sweep.

A sweep.

A sweep...and yet another sweep.

And because of it all, there’s a repeat.

The Laguna Beach girls’ volleyball program repeated as CIF Southern Section champion for the first time in school history Nov. 16 by sweeping Bishop Montgomery in the Division II-AA final at Cypress College.

By winning 25-21, 25-19, 25-23, the Breakers completed a clean sweep in Southern Section postseason play, adding the Knights to a list of playoff shutout victims that included Beckman, St. Joseph of Lakewood and Ayala.

“We believed that we could win the title again but no, I didn’t think we’d sweep everybody,” senior outside hitter Dana Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson, who has committed to the University of Arizona, had 16 kills and 17 digs in the final.

For all the superlatives one can heap on a program dripping with tradition, winning back-to-back championships will be their legacy.

“It’s really cool,” Hutchinson said. “This is such a great group of girls, and it’s really special to win this together.”

Laguna started slowly in the first two games, unforced errors keeping the Breakers from establishing early control. They did manage to pull away in each game, however, to open up a 2-0 advantage in games and put the Knights on edge.

In the third game, Laguna went on a 6-0 run to go out on top, 10-5, but Bishop Montgomery came back with a 5-0 run to tie the score.

Bishop Montgomery had the lead one final time at 20-19 and later tied the score at 23 on a kill by senior outside hitter Kelly Omatsu. But a kill by Hutchinson set up match point and with junior Alex Palmer at the serve, a kill attempt by the Knights’ Jennifer Edmond sailed forcefully out of bounds to end the match.

“I don’t know how many people expected us to do it again,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said of the Breakers’ title repeat. “At any level, it’s difficult to win back-to-back championships. After you win it once, teams tend to gun for you.

“But our girls did a fantastic job all year and they were really strong in the playoffs. I didn’t think that Dana had one of her better hitting games, but she served tough and played hard. Piper Obradovich was on fire. She was ending rallies for us with her swings and that was critical.”

Obradovich, a junior, finished with 15 kills.

“We’ve been practicing for a long time and working hard as a team to reach this goal, so this is pretty special,” Obradovich said. “I had a lot of confidence in our team, and a lot of us have been here before. It’s great to repeat as champions.”

Palmer had 24 assists and senior Paige Obradovich finished with 15 digs.

Laguna began play in the Southern California Regional of the CIF State Tournament Tuesday and defeated Tehachapi. The Breakers will host Cathedral Catholic in a regional semifinal Saturday and the winner advances to the regional final on Tuesday.

But on this Friday evening, the Laguna players and students basked in the glow of winning another Southern Section championship, chanting a refrain of “Olé” in unison as they bounced up and down on the bleachers and hardwood floor inside the Cypress College gymnasium.

“You know, I was nervous and nauseous before the match started but once I saw our fans and heard them cheering, it really got me fired up and ready,” said senior Laurielle Hofer whose exuberant play also contributed to the victory.

She had four kills, one solo and seven assisted blocks.

Her exuberance carried over to the post-match celebration.

“Our fans are so supportive and they were awesome again tonight,” she said. “I just love my school.”

In winning its fifth Southern Section title — Laguna teams have appeared in 11 championship finals — the Breakers improved to 84-29 all-time in postseason tournament play.

Members of Laguna’s 2007 CIF-SS Division II-AA championship team are senior Meaghan Flynn, senior Paige Obradovich, junior Piper Obradovich, senior Dana Hutchinson, senior Rebekah Farrar, sophomore Alex Rieckhoff, senior Laurielle Hofer, junior Kameron Combs, junior Alex Palmer, junior Chanel Wyett, junior Ari Palmer, sophomore Eden Radovich, freshman MacKenzie Hester, freshman Chanel Stewart, sophomore Kassidy Burgess, sophomore Paulette Grand Pre, head coach Lance Stewart and assistant coaches Stephen Astor, Paula Austin, Jamie Swintek and Mike Stafford.