DIVISION I ROUNDUP : Artists Pick Bad Time to Get Cold

Volleyball is a sport of weird and unpredictable scoring streaks, and it was never more evident than in Lakewood St. Joseph’s 15-13, 11-15, 14-16, 15-2, 15-11 victory over Laguna Beach Saturday night in the Southern California Regional Division I semifinals.

Unseeded St. Joseph rallied from a 10-7 deficit in the fifth game to upset top-seeded Laguna Beach in a match that lasted 2 hours 46 minutes.

Laguna Beach (23-3) trailed, 6-1, in the fifth game but rallied behind the play of middle blockers Jessica Wallace (three kills, two blocks in the game) and Anne Swayne (two kills, two blocks) to take a 10-7 lead.

Then St. Joseph’s Jamie Torromeo and Carly Conley took over. Torromeo had two kills and an ace, and Conley added two kills as the Jesters scored seven consecutive points.

Laguna Beach cut it to 14-11 on a kill by Wallace, but the match ended on an Artist hitting error.

“We had our opportunities,” Laguna Beach Coach Michael Soylular said. “That’s all I have to say.”

Junior outside hitter Rachel Wacholder had 35 kills for Laguna Beach, but 15 came in the first game.

In the third, the Artists trailed, 14-12, and fought off four game points. Wallace had two kills to tie it, and Tori Scott had a kill to give the Artists a 15-14 lead. The game ended on a St. Joseph hitting error.

Laguna Beach fell apart in the fourth game, committing six hitting errors and trailing, 7-0 and 11-1.

Torromeo and Conley each had 37 kills for St. Joseph, which advanced to Tuesday’s regional final against the winner of Saturday’s Los Altos-Stockton St. Mary’s match in the Northern Regional. Finalists in the Northern and Southern regionals in Division I are cross-matched.

Scott added 23 kills for Laguna Beach, the Southern Section 5-A champions. Wallace and Swayne added 10 kills apiece. Swayne had seven blocks, and Wallace added five.

In another Division I semifinal:

El Toro 3, Arroyo Grande 1--Jaime Smith had 19 kills and Tishara Jespersen 12 for visiting El Toro (20-4). The Chargers will play at the winner of Saturday’s Mountain View St. Francis-Sacramento Johnson match on Tuesday night.