Local athletes celebrate college futures on fall signing day

Music plays in the quad most days during lunch at Laguna Beach High School, but on Wednesday there was truly cause for celebration as the Breakers, and other high schools across the country, honored their athletes signing or committing to continue playing their sport in college.

Laguna Beach had 11 athletes declare that college athletics are going to be part of their future. The athletes — eight from water polo and three from volleyball — put pen to paper on the first day of the early signing period.

Will Kelly, a Cal-bound attacker, could hardly contain his excitement about the opportunity to play water polo for the Golden Bears, perennially one of the top teams in the nation.

Water polo players Ava Houlahan, William Kelly, and Lela McCarroll from left, sign their letters of intent during a signing day ceremony with staff and parents at Laguna Beach High on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“I’m really looking forward to playing at Cal,” Kelly said. “I feel like my coaches definitely prepared me to play at that level. I’ve been wanting to do this my entire life, and I got the opportunity to watch them play for the first time this season versus UC Irvine, and it looks like we have a lot of super talented players.”

Having just completed their final girls’ volleyball season at Laguna Beach, outside hitter Sophie Reavis (UC Santa Barbara) and setter Natalia Hagopian (Northeastern) will be going their separate ways after forming a dynamic duo on the hardwood.

“It was really fun to get to sign with her because we’ve been teammates for so long, so it was so fun,” Reavis said.

Laguna Beach athletes sign their letters of intent during a signing day ceremony with staff and parents on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Laguna Beach took top-seeded Aliso Niguel to a fifth set before being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. The Wolverines went on to beat Huntington Beach in the final.

Reavis, though, will be reuniting with her brother, Andrew, who is an outside hitter for the Gauchos.

Although Pacifica Christian Orange County does not field a softball team, the Tritons had Jamie Mackay sign with the Ole Miss softball program. Mackay, a lifelong baseball player, had hoped to secure an opportunity to play Division 1 baseball, but the catcher will get to compete at a high level in softball.

“I started playing [baseball] at 3 years old, and never put the bat, never put the ball down,” Mackay said. “I started out as a pitcher, and it wasn’t until I was about 10, I attended a club practice, and [they were] like, ‘Oh, I need a catcher. Do you want to try?’

“I was like, ‘Sure,’ because I thought the gear looked really cool, and honestly, that was the only reason I tried it, and then I fell in love with that. Ever since, baseball just had a hold on me that I couldn’t shake, and I wanted to try to play in college.”

Mackay, who has played for the women’s national team in baseball, said she is a quick learner and believes she will make the transition successfully.

“It’s a different sport, for sure, but I think most of my skills are easily transferable,” Mackay said. “The only thing that I’m going to have to worry about is the release point of the ball, getting used to the different pitches and the different distance [from the rubber to home plate].”

Servite’s Justin Faison, a Huntington Beach resident, signed with the Sacramento State men’s soccer program.

(Courtesy of Magic Moments Sports Photography)

Sydney Hoggard signed with the Oregon women’s lacrosse program, becoming the first Edison girls’ lacrosse player to commit to a Division 1 college program.

Huntington Beach’s college-bound athletes included a trio from the Oilers’ top-ranked boys’ water polo team, which was scheduled to face Studio City Harvard-Westlake in the Open Division semifinals on Wednesday evening at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine. Those players were James Rozolis-Hill (Harvard), Nikola Mirkovic (Cal) and Matthew Morgan (UC Davis).

Additional standouts in water polo included Newport Harbor’s Morgan Netherton (USC) and Taylor Smith (UCLA).

Fountain Valley guard Roddie Anderson signed with the UC San Diego men’s basketball program. As a junior, Anderson helped lead the Barons to the Division 2AA quarterfinals.

Luke Villaluz has been a part of back-to-back CIF finals appearances for the Corona del Mar wrestling team. Villaluz signed with the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo wrestling program.

Servite’s Chip Deegan, a Costa Mesa resident, signed with the Naval Academy’s men’s golf program.

(Courtesy of Magic Moments Sports Photography)

Below is a list of the local athletes that signed or committed to play a sport in college on Wednesday:

CORONA DEL MAR

Mia Bernhoit, UC Santa Barbara women’s water polo

Ty Caffarelli, Monmouth University men’s lacrosse

Aliyah Cohen, Bucknell women’s water polo

Claire Eusey, Brown University women’s water polo

Caroline Glessing, Yale University women’s track and field

Max Lane, Harvard baseball

Charlie Mannon, UC Santa Barbara baseball

Megan Morris, McKendree women’s water polo

Lucas Newton, Villanova boys’ lacrosse

Calder Overfelt, Santa Clara University men’s golf

Jack Salmon, USC baseball

Luke Villaluz, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo wrestling

EDISON

Natalia Brandlin, San Diego Christian College women’s volleyball

Sydney Hoggard, University of Oregon women’s lacrosse

Lily Larson, Loyola Marymount University women’s water polo

FOUNTAIN VALLEY

Roddie Anderson, UC San Diego men’s basketball

Ryder Brooks, UC Irvine baseball

Madison Le, Long Beach State women’s golf

Delaney Risse, Concordia University women’s volleyball

Blake Wentz, Biola University baseball

Laurynn Ziller, UC Irvine women’s soccer

HUNTINGTON BEACH

Rachael Arnold, Truett McConnell University softball

Carson Dykes, Hope University men’s soccer

Nick Dumesnil, Cal Baptist University baseball

Reid Fisher, San Diego State men’s soccer

Ben Jacobs, UCLA baseball

Nikola Mirkovic, Cal men’s water polo

Matthew Morgan, UC Davis men’s water polo

James Rozolis-Hill, Harvard men’s water polo

Madison Sewell, Tufts University softball

Jack Smith, Cal State Northridge baseball

Ryker Sullivan, Colorado Christian University baseball

Shawn Williams, Oglethorpe University (Ga.) men’s golf

LAGUNA BEACH

London Boyd, Loyola Marymount University women’s water polo

Lela McCarroll, Marist College women’s water polo

Isabel Foley, Villanova women’s water polo

Riley Gapp, Concordia University men’s volleyball

Natalia Hagopian, Northeastern University women’s volleyball

Ava Houlahan, Princeton women’s water polo

William Kelly, Cal men’s water polo

Lexi Parness, University of Indiana women’s water polo

Sophie Reavis, UC Santa Barbara women’s volleyball

Holden Seybold, Navy men’s water polo

Lauren Smith, Pomona-Pitzer women’s water polo

MARINA

Isabella Frias, Friends University (Kan.) softball

Zoe King, North Dakota State softball

NEWPORT HARBOR

Isabel Del Villar, Claremont McKenna College women’s rowing

James Eadie, Pepperdine men’s volleyball

Lily Gess, UCLA women’s water polo

Makaelee Hansberger, Marist College women’s water polo

Mason Hunt, Harvard men’s water polo

Sheya Lavin, University of Tennessee women’s rowing

Trent Liolios, Northwestern University baseball

Alexandra Love, Brown University women’s water polo

Ana Beatriz Mantellato Dias, University of Hawaii, Manoa women’s water polo

Paige Naegle, Marist College women’s water polo

Morgan Netherton, USC women’s water polo

Taylor Smith, UCLA women’s water polo

Chloe Zollman, Duke University women’s rowing

Katherine Metcalf, Colgate women’s rowing

PACIFICA CHRISTIAN

Riyaan Jiwani, NYU men’s basketball

Jamie Mackay, Ole Miss softball

Jacob Watkins, University of Montana men’s tennis

SERVITE

Chip Deegan, Navy men’s golf

Justin Faison, Sacramento State men’s soccer

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