LAST LAUGH: Tustin’s football team finished 1-9...

LAST LAUGH: Tustin’s football team finished 1-9 last season and decided not to rehire its coach, Tim Ellis. Ellis then became involved in a controversy at Trabuco Hills. He was hired, then un -hired after booster club members raised a protest. Ellis was left without a team before being hired this season as an assistant at El Toro. . . . How did things turn out? Ellis reached the playoffs with El Toro, Tustin returned to the playoffs, and Trabuco Hills failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1986, the first year the Mustangs fielded a varsity team.

STANDING TALL: Among smaller schools, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel looms large in girls’ volleyball. The Eagles are the top-seeded team in the Southern Section Division IV playoffs and are playing for their third consecutive title. In 1993, Calvary Chapel won the section Division V championship and was runner-up in the CIF State Division IV tournament. Last season, the Eagles won the section Division IV title and were the State Division IV champions. . . . They are led by middle-blocker Jenny Roberts and setter Kensy Zulueta.

IN A RUT: Laguna Beach, led by senior Michelle Bray, above, continues its quest for a fourth consecutive Southern Section girls’ tennis title. But Coach Bob Walton said the excitement level around campus is not exactly fever-pitched. . . . “The kids really haven’t talked about it much,” Walton says. “Nothing lasts forever. Eventually, there’s going to come a time when other schools are up there instead of us.” . . . Seniors Lindsey Weiss and Sarah Cohen also provide leadership for the Artists.

SEAT OF POWER: Since 1965, Orange County teams have dominated the Southern Section water polo playoffs, winning 28 of 30 major division titles. Last year, however, Long Beach Wilson broke the county’s 21-season streak by beating Corona del Mar, 10-9, in the Division I final. . . . This time around, top-seeded Foothill, which has lost only once this season, is favored to put the county back on top.