PREP ROUNDUP : Newport Harbor Topples No. 1 Laguna Beach

Newport Harbor outside hitter Maureen McLaren wasn’t perfect Thursday night. But almost perfect was good enough for the Newport Harbor girls’ volleyball team, which upset Laguna Beach, the No. 1 ranked team in Orange County.

McLaren had 25 kills and only one hitting error to lead the Sailors to an 11-15, 15-10, 15-10, 15-6, victory at Newport Harbor High School.

Laguna Beach won the first game behind Rachel Wacholder, who had seven kills in the game but finished with only 14 for the match.

“Rachel hit the ball well tonight, she just didn’t terminate it,” Laguna Beach Coach Michael Soyular said. “Newport Harbor just did a great job defensively, deflecting everything and just digging the ball left and right.”

Newport Harbor freshman Misty May had 15 kills and 30 assists, and Tara Kroesch, playing in her first home match since returning from a knee injury, had 11 kills. Kroesch was a first-team All-Orange County player last season.

Tori Scott had 20 kills for Laguna Beach, and setter Shauna Shapiro had 53 assists to lead the Artists.