Laguna rules league tourney
Laguna Beach made its presence felt Wednesday on the opening day of the Orange Coast League girls’ tennis tournament.
The league-champion Breakers sent its top two singles players (Lauren Michaels and Claire Jaeger), and top three doubles teams (Kira Hamilton/Brooke Michaels, Chloe Mansour/Katelyn Bo, Taylor Nederlander/Bailey Jaeger), to Thursday’s finals. Results from the finals competition weren’t available at press time.
Laguna hosted the league’s top 16 singles and doubles teams for the tournament.
Rounding out the top four singles finalists were No. 3-seed Tawnie Yeau of Calvary Chapel, and No. 4-seed Christie Brown of Estancia. The fourth doubles team finalist was Lisa Vu/Jackie Dang comes from Costa Mesa.
Lauren Michaels and Claire Jaeger won their first-round matches by 8-0 scores and both posted 6-0, 6-0 scores in second-round wins. Jaeger defeated Breakers teammate Kate McMahon in the second round.
In doubles play, Hamilton/Brooke Michaels won by scores of 8-0 and 6-0, 6-1, and Mansour/Bo won 8-0 and 6-0, 6-0. Nederlander/Jaeger cruised, 8-0, in the first round but were challenged in the second round by the Calvary Chapel team of Brooke Benson/Morgan Glascock. The Breakers pair won the first set, 6-3, but fell, 7-5, in the second set. In the third-set tie-breaker, Nederlander and Jaeger won, 10-5, to move on to Thursday’s finals.
Prior to Wednesday’s league tournament, Laguna completed its dominating run in league by blanking visiting Saddleback, 18-0, on Oct. 27.
The CIF playoffs start Tuesday, with wild-card action. The Breakers will host a first-round match on Thursday. Brackets will be announced on Monday.
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Cross-Country
Laguna’s boys’ and girls’ teams competed Wednesday at the Orange Coast League finals at Centennial Park in Santa Ana. The results weren’t available at press time.
The CIF Southern Section cross-country prelims are Saturday at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut. CIF divisional finals are Nov. 19, also at Mt. SAC. The CIF State Meet is Nov. 26 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
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Surfing
Laguna started its surf season schedule Oct. 27 against Dana Hills and fell to the Dolphins in a close contest at Salt Creek Beach.
For the Breakers, Austin Silvers started the action by ripping his way to a second-place finish in the day’s first heat. Blair Conklin successfully worked several clean lefts to grab third place in his heat and Adam Redding-Kaufman and Dane Zaranelli finished second and third, respectively, in their heats.
Coach Scott Finn’s squad is paced by veterans Redding-Kaufman, Zaranelli, Adam Mejia and Dane Dornan and Leah Pakpour, Willie Hogan and Marlee Grosher.
“I’m very excited about this group as they continue to learn how to really take hold of a heat and claim their spot out there,” Finn said.
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Girls’ Volleyball
Orange Coast League-champion Laguna Beach ended its regular season Thursday with a nonleague match at Edison. The score wasn’t available at press time.
The CIF Southern Section playoff brackets will be released Saturday. The Breakers, ranked third in Division 1-AA, are the No. 3-ranked team in the division heading into the playoffs. Wild-card matches will be played Monday and first-round contests are Tuesday.
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Boys’ Water Polo
Laguna, the top-ranked team in CIF Division 3, wraps up its regular season Friday against Agoura, the No. 1-ranked team in Division 4. The game is at 4 p.m. at the Costa Mesa High pool.
The CIF playoff brackets will be released Sunday. Defending-champion Laguna figures to be the top seed in Division 3 and will host a first-round game. Wild-card games are Tuesday and first-round games start Wednesday.
Twitter: @MikeSciacca
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