Dos Pueblos

Falling behind early wasn?t the game plan for the Laguna Beach High girls? volleyball team in its CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinal match against Dos Pueblos. The Breakers did come back and make a match of it, however, before suffering a season-ending 25-23, 25-23, 25-13 loss at home Tuesday night. Laguna Beach (17-10) figured to need to play nearly flawless to hang with Dos Pueblos (29-2), ranked No. 7 in the ESPN Rise girls? volleyball national rankings. That wasn?t the case as the visiting Chargers jumped out to 9-3 leads in both of the first two games, forcing the Breakers to try to claw back.

The Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball team ventured up to Santa Barbara County this weekend to compete at the 29th annual Dos Pueblos Invitational at UC Santa Barbara. Laguna split four matches in pool play. The Breakers defeated host Dos Pueblos, 25-21, 25-13, and beat Highland for a second time this year, 25-22, 25-17. The two losses came to Los Gatos, 19-25, 18-25, and Royal, 24-26, 16-25. Trey Chapel had seven kills, and Luke Morris and Chris Hoffman each had seven digs in the win over Dos Pueblos.

Disappointed but pleased. It’s not often that those two sentiments go hand-in-hand but for a few members of the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team, those were the feelings expressed when describing the outcome of Wednesday’s CIF-Southern Section girls’ water polo Division II semifinal match between the Breakers and Dos Pueblos. Laguna gave a standout all-around performance against the division’s top-ranked team but came up short in a 9-8 loss at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center on the Irvine High campus.

Something happened Tuesday night at Dugger Gymnasium that hadn't happened to the Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball team in quite a while. The Breakers dropped a game. But despite what turned out to be a minor setback, things on the whole remained the same — Laguna won again. The Breakers moved out of the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs by scoring a 25-20, 25-14, 26-28, 25-20 victory over visiting San Luis Obispo. It was the 100th section playoff match for Laguna, which improved its postseason record to 72-28.

In a match in which you would expect both teams to leave it all on the line, host and fourth-seeded Dos Pueblos was able to sneak past No. 5-seed Laguna Beach, 25-18, 25-27, 26-24, 26-24, last Friday in the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs at Goleta. At stake for both teams was a berth in the semifinals which were played Wednesday. Friday's quarterfinal round match was as intense as the final scores indicate. "What you like to be able to do is put yourself in position to win, and we were in a position to win this match," Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said.

IRVINE — Over the past month of the 2010-11 season, the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team really had found its niche. Playing relaxed, confident and great defense, the Breakers picked up big wins here and there one of which was a first-time victory over Newport Harbor last Friday. On Wednesday night at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, the Breakers were this close to recording one of the all-time great victories in school history. All that stood between Laguna Beach and Dos Pueblos in their CIF Southern Section Division I semifinal showdown was a single goal, make that, a "golden goal.

The Laguna Beach girls' water polo team made it a 1-2-3 season sweep of Dos Pueblos of Goleta Wednesday. The third meeting between the two teams in six weeks was the most important, a first-round game in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. The outcome turned out to be another victory for the Breakers who kept their title hopes alive with a 9-8 win at home. With the win, Orange Coast League champion Laguna advances to face Sunset League champ Newport Harbor in a division quarterfinal Saturday at 2 p.m. The No. 6-seeded Breakers play host to the No. 4-seeded Sailors, who defeated Canyon of Anaheim, 18-3, on Wednesday.

Rolling to another impressive performance, the Laguna Beach girls' water polo team picked up its ninth victory of the season Wednesday by taking down visiting Los Osos, 20-3, in nonleague action. The Breakers (9-1) started strong and didn't let up. They went from a 6-1 lead after one quarter to 12-3 at the half and then shut out the Grizzlies in the second half. Makenzie Fischer led the scoring with six goals and also had an assist and three steals. Yoshi Andersen scored five goals and had four assists, Melena Masson scored four times and had four steals, Lexie Del Toro scored twice with two assists and two steals, Sydney Saxe scored twice, had one assist and five steals, Mackenzie Baldridge had a goal and two assists and Alia Manetta had a goal and one steal.

The Laguna Beach High boys? volleyball team will play Dos Pueblos in a quarterfinal of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs at 7 p.m. today at Dugger Gym. The Breakers previously dominated visiting Crescenta Valley 25-9, 25-14, 25-21 (May 9) and host Beckman, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 (Tuesday). Crescenta was the No. 3 representative from the Pacific League and Beckman No. 2 from the Pacific Coast League. Dos Pueblos, which finished second in the Channel League, defeated Adolfo Camarillo, the Pacific View League champion Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Laguna began its bid for a third consecutive Orange Coast League championship with a 19-1 rout of visiting Estancia. The Breakers played shutout polo for the first three quarters before losing the shutout in the fourth. Laguna led, 10-0, after one quarter and 13-0 at the half. Taylor Dodson had four goals and three assists to lead the way. Melena Masson scored three goals and Annika Dries, Lexie Ross and Natasha Schulman each scored twice. Also finding the goal were Yoshi Andersen, Lida De Groote and Kaitlyn Waidley.

The Laguna Beach girls' water polo team made it a 1-2-3 season sweep of Dos Pueblos of Goleta Wednesday. The third meeting between the two teams in six weeks was the most important, a first-round game in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. The outcome turned out to be another victory for the Breakers who kept their title hopes alive with a 9-8 win at home. With the win, Orange Coast League champion Laguna advances to face Sunset League champ Newport Harbor in a division quarterfinal Saturday at 2 p.m. The No. 6-seeded Breakers play host to the No. 4-seeded Sailors, who defeated Canyon of Anaheim, 18-3, on Wednesday.

Rolling to another impressive performance, the Laguna Beach girls' water polo team picked up its ninth victory of the season Wednesday by taking down visiting Los Osos, 20-3, in nonleague action. The Breakers (9-1) started strong and didn't let up. They went from a 6-1 lead after one quarter to 12-3 at the half and then shut out the Grizzlies in the second half. Makenzie Fischer led the scoring with six goals and also had an assist and three steals. Yoshi Andersen scored five goals and had four assists, Melena Masson scored four times and had four steals, Lexie Del Toro scored twice with two assists and two steals, Sydney Saxe scored twice, had one assist and five steals, Mackenzie Baldridge had a goal and two assists and Alia Manetta had a goal and one steal.

During the final month of its 2010-11 season, the Laguna Beach girls' water polo team really had found its niche. Playing relaxed, confident and showcasing great defense, the Breakers picked up big wins here and there, one of which was a first-time victory over Newport Harbor on Feb. 18. On Wednesday night at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, the Breakers were this close to recording one of the all-time great victories in...

IRVINE — Over the past month of the 2010-11 season, the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team really had found its niche. Playing relaxed, confident and great defense, the Breakers picked up big wins here and there one of which was a first-time victory over Newport Harbor last Friday. On Wednesday night at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, the Breakers were this close to recording one of the all-time great victories in school history. All that stood between Laguna Beach and Dos Pueblos in their CIF Southern Section Division I semifinal showdown was a single goal, make that, a "golden goal.

LAGUNA BEACH — There was pressing, crashing, storming and thunderous action at Laguna Beach High Friday. No, it wasn't about a weather report. Rather, it was a description of the Breakers' girls' water polo team. The No. 5-seeded Breakers (22-7) had their way and used a stifling defense to dismantle No. 4-seeded Newport Harbor (23-6). There wasn't much the Sailors could do, as Laguna Beach scored a 7-3 win in a CIF Southern Section Division I quarterfinal amid a steady downpour of rain.

Falling behind early wasn?t the game plan for the Laguna Beach High girls? volleyball team in its CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinal match against Dos Pueblos. The Breakers did come back and make a match of it, however, before suffering a season-ending 25-23, 25-23, 25-13 loss at home Tuesday night. Laguna Beach (17-10) figured to need to play nearly flawless to hang with Dos Pueblos (29-2), ranked No. 7 in the ESPN Rise girls? volleyball national rankings. That wasn?t the case as the visiting Chargers jumped out to 9-3 leads in both of the first two games, forcing the Breakers to try to claw back.

Coach Lance Stewart doesn?t expect the Laguna Beach High girls? volleyball team to blow many teams off the court this year. The Breakers are young, and serving is a strength. Stewart said it?s probably the best serving team he?s had since he returned to Laguna Beach in 2003. But if they?re going to be effective, they?re also going to be, well, annoying. ?We?re not going to be big and powerful,? Stewart said. ?We?re going to have to annoy people. We?ll have to win long points and I think we?

Fresh off its CIF Southern Section Division II championship, the Laguna Beach High girls? water polo team is competing in the Masters Tournament that begins today at four pools throughout Orange County. The 16-team tournament features finalists from each of the six division championship games, plus semifinalists from Division I and at-large teams. Laguna Beach, the No. 3 seed, plays against No. 14 Arroyo Grande today at 2:30 p.m. at Santa Margarita High. Should the Breakers win, they?

The Laguna Beach High girls? water polo team has reached the final leg of its season. The Breakers? goal is simple: win a CIF Southern Section championship. Laguna began Division II postseason play Thursday at home against wild-card game winner Thousand Oaks. The score, however, wasn?t available at press time. A win over Thousand Oaks would advance top-seeded Laguna to a second-round game Saturday against the winner of the Thursday first-round match between Canyon of Anaheim (Century No. 1)

With the prestigious Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions now in the books, the Laguna Beach High girls? water polo team this week has turned its attention to playing yet another big game. At 3:15 p.m. today, Laguna will host Villa Park in a Division II match-up that will pit the top-ranked Breakers against the seventh-ranked Spartans. Laguna comes into the nonleague match with a 15-2 record. The Breakers were saddled with their first two losses of the season last week up in Santa Barbara.