PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Wacholder Quiets Crowd; Laguna Beach Beats El Toro

Perhaps the biggest strategic blunder in El Toro’s nonleague girls’ volleyball match against Laguna Beach Tuesday night wasn’t by a coach or a player, but by the El Toro student section.

A group of 30 students began heckling Laguna Beach’s Rachel Wacholder early in the fourth game, a terrible mistake to make when your team is playing against Orange County’s top high school player.

Wacholder responded with 22 of her 35 kills in the final two games as the Artists, ranked second in the county, rallied for an 11-15, 15-3, 7-15, 15-6, 15-7 victory over the seventh-ranked Chargers at El Toro.

With El Toro leading, two games to one, Charger students, including one with a live iguana on his shoulder, began chanting “Overrated” and “You’ll never get a scholarship” at Wacholder.

Wacholder, a 5-foot-8 senior and one of the top college recruits in the nation, didn’t seem to mind the taunts. She has heard it all before.

“It makes me mad that people can be that way,” she said. “They were really heckling us last weekend at the Orange County Championships.”

Wacholder pounded nine kills in the fourth game Tuesday as Laguna Beach built an 8-0 lead and was never threatened.

She had 13 kills, including nine for points, as the Artists raced to a 13-2 lead. At that point, the El Toro fans, who were quiet since early in the fifth game, left.

“I don’t think Rachel is ever intimidated by the crowd,” Laguna Beach Coach Michael Soylular said.

The victory was Laguna Beach’s second over El Toro in the past week. The Artists beat the Chargers, 15-3, in pool play at the Orange County Championships last weekend. El Toro (2-1) never made it out of pool play, and Laguna Beach (2-0) lost to La Habra, 15-13, in the first round.

“El Toro is a very good team,” Soylular said. “The Orange County Championships didn’t show how good a team they are.”

But Tuesday night, the Artists, and Wacholder in particular, began to show signs of how they played last year, when they swept El Toro in the Southern Section 5-A championship game.

The Artists struggled with consistency in the first three games. Soylular rotated two setters--sophomore Christy Collison and senior Erin Bratcher, a transfer from Santa Margarita--until going to Bratcher almost exclusively in the final two games.

Bratcher began setting the ball to the left side to Wacholder and senior Hilary Kyle, who smashed several hard cross-court shots and also found a soft spot in the middle of the El Toro defense. Kyle finished with 16 kills.

“Erin made the adjustment in the last two games and Rachel and Hilary came alive on the left side,” Soylular said. “I thought El Toro played very well. I think El Toro, Corona del Mar and us will be major factors (in the playoffs).”

Monika Bickert had 11 kills to lead a balanced El Toro attack. Amanda Burrows added eight kills, Tishara Jespersen seven and Amber Woodcock nine for the Chargers.

In other nonleague girls’ volleyball:

Capistrano Valley 3, Trabuco Hills 0--Rachel Simpson had 10 kills as host Capistrano Valley (5-0) won, 15-3, 18-16, 15-6.

Cypress 3, Long Beach Wilson 2--Heather Lowe had 24 kills for host Cypress, which rallied for a 7-15, 15-8, 7-15, 15-4, 15-12 victory.

Orange 3, Brea-Olinda 0--Camie Velin had 12 kills for host Orange (4-1), which won, 15-8, 15-6, 15-7.

Fullerton 3, Loara 0--Nadia Hoerner had 13 kills for visiting Fullerton in a 15-11, 15-0, 15-9 sweep.

Edison 3, Rosary 0--Alicia Liniger had 12 kills and Jill Butts added 10 as host Edison (3-0) won, 15-10, 15-3, 15-5.

In the Garden Grove League:

Kennedy 3, Los Amigos 0--Debbie Lite had seven aces for visiting Kennedy (3-0, 1-0), which won, 17-15, 15-12, 15-4.

Garden Grove 3, Rancho Alamitos 0--Stephanie Meehan had eight kills for Garden Grove (2-1, 1-0) in its 15-6, 15-10, 15-10 victory over Rancho Alamitos.

In the Sea View League:

Newport Harbor 3, Tustin 0--Misty May had 12 kills as visiting Newport Harbor (2-1, 1-0) won, 15-8, 15-8, 15-11. Sarah Davis had 10 kills for Tustin (0-3, 0-1).

In the Sunset League:

Huntington Beach 3, Marina 1--Vanessa Dahl had 16 kills and Melissa Wednt had seven blocks for host Huntington Beach (1-2, 1-0).

Fountain Valley 3, Santa Ana 0--Cynthia Trotter had eight kills as host Fountain Valley (1-2, 1-0) won, 15-1, 15-2, 15-3.

Westminster 3, Ocean View 2--Lisa Tamamasui had 22 kills and Crissy Schenck added 20 for host Westminster (3-0, 1-0), which won, 15-12, 6-15, 15-6, 11-15, 15-13.