Laguna wraps up crown

Coach Alec Horton called it a “tough day at the office” for the Laguna Beach High girls’ tennis team Wednesday.

The Breakers stepped away from league play to take on former league foe and rival Corona del Mar in a nonleague match at Laguna and were handed a 15-3 defeat by the Sea Kings, the fifth-ranked team in CIF Division 1.

The bright spot for the Breakers came at No. 1 singles as Taylor Nederlander went 2-1, losing a tough battle against CdM’s top player, Lynda Xeopoleas.

In Orange Coast League play, Laguna was a 15-3 winner Tuesday against visiting Costa Mesa. Claire Jaeger played No. 1 singles and swept without dropping a game, as did seniors Bianca Sganga and Haley Moss at No. 1 doubles.

The win wrapped up another league championship for the Breakers, who are 9-0 in league and 11-5 overall heading into Thursday’s league finale at Saddleback (the score wasn’t available at press time).

In a league match Oct. 21, Laguna needed only 90 minutes to complete 18 sets and rolled past Godinez, 18-0. Laguna only dropped one game the entire match.

The Breakers travel to Palos Verdes on Tuesday to face Chadwick in a nonleague match at Peninsula Racquet Club. Chadwick is the top-ranked team in CIF Division 2.

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Boys’ Water Polo

Laguna put the finishing touches on another perfect season Wednesday in the Orange Coast League by handling league newcomer Saddleback, 24-2, at the Laguna pool. Spencer Dodson netted six goals to lead nine Breakers in scoring. Nolan McConnell scored five goals, Tyler Mancusso had four, Nicky Brunner three goals, Jack Clark scored twice and Samer Alkateb, Camron Hauer, Tommy Renner and Erik Henrickson each scored once. McConnel also had four assists and Henrickson six saves and three steals.

The Breakers opened play Monday at the Servite Tournament and scored wins against La Salle (19-1) and Montebello (17-11) at Valencia High in Placentia. In the win against La Salle, the No. 10 team in Division 5, Dodson had four goals and five assists, Renner scored four goals, Brunner had three goals and Henrickson had 10 saves. In defeating Montebello, the No. 7 team in Division 2, McConnell powered his way for 10 goals to go with three assists, Mancusso scored five goals, Clark had five assists and Henrickson registered 12 saves.

In a key CIF Division 3 nonleague match last Friday in La Verne, then-No. 1 Laguna was edged by host and fourth-ranked Damien, 16-15. McConnell led the Breakers with seven goals.

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Girls’ Volleyball

In a nonleague match pitting ranked teams against each other, host Mira Costa scored a 25-12, 25-22, 25-16 victory against Laguna. The Mustangs are ranked fourth in CIF Division 1-AA and the Breakers are ranked fifth in Division 1-A. Mackenzie Hester and Chantel Stewart each had 10 kills and Allison Palmer had 26 assists.

Laguna plays its final three Orange Coast League matches over the next six days, beginning at 5:45 p.m. today at Godinez. The Breakers host Costa Mesa at 5:45 p.m. Monday and close out league play Wednesday (5:45 p.m.) at Saddleback.

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Cross-Country

The Laguna boys’ team finished third in the Division 4 race at the Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut last weekend.

Aaron Swartz led the way for the Breakers with a mark of 16 minutes 37 seconds. Matt Neev finished 22nd overall with a time of 15:24 in the Division 1 sweepstakes race.

Laguna’s freshman team also finished in third place.

“I was very happy as almost all the kids set their best Mt. SAC times,” boys’ Coach Scott Wittkop said. “We only ran two of our top five in the team race and still finished in third.

Both the Laguna boys’ and girls’ teams will run at the Orange Coast League finals Thursday. The event begins at 1:45 p.m. at Centennial Park in Santa Ana.

Both Laguna teams are also gearing up for the CIF Division 4 prelims, which are Nov. 13, also on the Mt. SAC course.

“We have a great chance to win the league title. It will come down to just a point or two between us and Division 2 Godinez,” Wittkop said. “It should be the first time all year that we will run at full strength. We still have kids battling it out to see who will be placed on the CIF team, so I believe that they will run with a lot of passion.”

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Surfing

Two Laguna Beach athletes earned second-place finishes Oct. 21 when the Breakers met San Clemente at T Street in San Clemente.

One of the runner-up heat finishes went to Leah Pakpour in the girls’ shortboard, the other to Blair Conklin in boys’ shortboard. Grabbing third-place finishes were Kris Williams in boys’ shortboard and Rex Strombotne in boys’ longboard.

“Our team competed hard against San Clemente,” Laguna Coach Scott Finn said. “The waves were fun and contestable. I was proud of everybody’s effort.”

Laguna is scheduled to next face Newport Harbor on Thursday at Salt Creek Beach. The contest starts at 6:15 a.m.