Water Polo

Makenzie Fischer, a sophomore at Laguna Beach High, was named Monday to the USA Water Polo Women's Youth National Team. Fischer was one of 13 players named to the 18-and-under team which is coached by Kyle Kopp and assistant coaches Alison Gregorka and Paul Felton. The USA Youth National Team will compete at the FINA Youth World Championships Dec. 1-9 at Perth, Australia. * Volleyball clinics available Junior Breakers Volleyball Clinics, a series of youth volleyball classes presented by Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball Coach Scott Panaro, are underway at the North Gym on the Laguna Beach campus.

Aiming for the top — that's the spot the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo program always sets its sights on. It's where the focus is again in the 2012-13 season, one in which Coach Ethan Damato welcomes back six players including five starters, from a group that last year finished the season ranked No. 3 and was one play away from playing in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title game. Twice in the past two years have the Breakers fallen in overtime games in the semifinal round including last year to eventual champion Newport Harbor.

The CIF Southern Section Council voted unanimously Tuesday to end the Masters water polo tournament after a three-year run. The decision, which came at a council meeting in Long Beach, came after the boys? and girls? water polo advisory committees came up with a proposal to end the tournament. The Masters tournament was seen as an opportunity for the best teams in the Southern Section ? regardless of division ? to play in a tournament after CIF finals. It was hoped that it would be a precursor to a state championship tournament.

Nine Laguna Beach athletes have been named Junior Olympics All-American in water polo. The players named to the All-American team for 2006 was revealed by usawaterpolo.org this week. Only a few athletes were named All-American from the thousands of players from Southern California who competed at the 2006 S & R Sports National Junior Olympics held this summer. In the Boys' U12 Division, Nolan McConnell and Eric Henrikson were named first team. Selected as first team "Spares" were Dylan Payne and Nicky Brunner.

The Laguna Beach High boys' water polo team picked up its second victory of the season Tuesday as it outlasted host Capistrano Valley, 16-12, in nonleague action. The Breakers led throughout the match and outscored the Cougars in three of four quarters. Nima Mortizavi led all scorers with six goals. Breakers teammates Morgan Plant and Dustin Caris each scored four goals and Ryan Winfield scored the other two. Bret Burge came up with 12 saves as Laguna improved its record to 2-1. In a match played earlier in the week, the Breakers dropped a 9-8 nonleague match to visiting La Canada.

The Laguna Beach High boys' water polo team continues to impress in its first year playing at the Division I level. The Breakers earned an 11th place finish overall in the recent, three-day South Coast Tournament that was held at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high schools. Laguna Beach, currently ranked seventh among Division I teams, ran its record to 7-2 following tournament play. The Breakers had big wins over ranked teams Villa Park and San Clemente.

Two Laguna Beach High winter athletic teams ? girls? water polo and boys? soccer ? continue to represent the area in this week?s CIF Southern Section rankings. Laguna?s stranglehold on the Division II girls? water polo poll?s top spot continued, while the boys? basketball team came in at No. 4 in the Division IV-A rankings. The polls were released Monday by the Southern Section office in Los Alamitos. ? Girls? Water Polo Division II: 1. Laguna Beach ; 2. Montebello; 3. Palos Verdes; 4. Agoura; 5. San Clemente; 6. Tesoro; 7. Royal; 8. Capistrano Valley; 9. Villa Park; 10. Canyon.

Annika Dries has already proven herself in water polo on the high school stage. Now, she?s doing it on the international stage. The Laguna Beach High senior played with the U.S. women?s senior national team Sunday, in a FINA World League preliminary match against Canada at Corona del Mar High. Dries, 17, is the youngest player on the team. She scored the final goal of the first quarter, helping the U.S. to a 4-0 lead in what would become a 10-5 win. She is next traveling with the team to Russia for the FINA Super Final, which begins Tuesday with Team USA taking on Italy.

In a preview of things to come, the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team took on host Santa Barbara in nonleague play, a day before the Breakers opened up tournament play at the Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara. The host Dons recorded a 12-5 victory over the Breakers. Laguna was coming off a three-week layoff. Two days later, Santa Barbara won a rematch against Laguna, 11-6, in tournament action. In the 12-5 loss, Addison Doud's two goals paced a Breakers attack that saw Jessica McKee and Breanna Duplisea each score once.

Laguna Beach High's boys' water polo team jumped out to a quick two-goal lead on Esperanza in Tuesday's nonleague match, but the host Breakers stormed back in the final three periods to take an 11-5 victory. Laguna led, 4-2, after one quarter of play. Esperanza, however, outscored the Breakers, 9-1, over the final two quarters. In girls' volleyball Tuesday, Laguna fell to host and league-leading Northwood, 25-15, 25-16, 25-15. In girls' tennis, Laguna rebounded from its first loss of the season to score a 14-4 victory over Northwood in PCL play.

Two members of the Laguna Beach girls' water polo team earned all-CIF Southern Section honors earlier this week. Senior Lexi Del Toro and sophomore Makenzie Fischer were named Monday to the 2012-13 Girls' Water Polo All CIF Southern Section Division 1 team. Del Toro and Fischer are two of 14 players named to the team which is headed by Corona del Mar senior Cassidy Papa, who was named the division's Player of the Year. Corona del Mar's Sam Bailey, who guided the Sea Kings to the Division 1 championship, was named the division's Coach of the Year.

When Laguna Beach and Newport Harbor get together in the pool for girls' water polo competition, the action almost never seems to lack drama. Saturday at the Laguna pool, it was turned up a notch. The sixth-ranked Breakers and fourth-ranked Sailors went up against each other for a second time this season in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal showdown where a berth in the semifinals awaited the winner. After a deadlock through regulation, it was Newport that survived to move on, following an 11-10 overtime victory.

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.

Twelve senior athletes at Laguna Beach High signed a National Letter of Intent Wednesday to continue their academic and athletic careers. "Celebrating the success of our athletes is important and I am very proud of our students," Laguna Beach Principal Joanne Culverhouse said in a statement. "They are not only successful athletes, but student scholars and focused young adults. " The 12 Breakers who signed Wednesday are: Mackenzi Baldrige (University of California, Santa Barbara, women's water polo)

A fast start left little doubt Wednesday that the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team was on its way to another big Orange Coast League victory. The Breakers gave up a first-quarter goal to host Estancia but then shut out the Eagles the remainder of the way, and rolled to a 23-1 victory. Makenzie Fischer and Ally Jochim both scored four goals and Lexi Del Toro and Sydney Saxe each scored three goals, to pace the offensive output. Laguna, ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division 1, improved to 3-0 in league and clinched another OCL championship.

A trip north resulted in gold for the Laguna Beach Water Polo 14-and-under girls' team last weekend. Laguna won the gold medal at the Santa Barbara Water Polo Invitational Sunday by defeating host and heavily-favored Santa Barbara, 5-4, in the championship game. Despite losing six of seven starters from last season's squad, the youthful Laguna girls kept pace with Santa Barbara during the early part of the game. The locals held a one-point halftime advantage and kept a narrow lead until Santa Barbara tied the score with a goal out of center with 40 seconds left in the game.

An early call Wednesday turned out to reap several rewards for the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team. On a day that began at 5:45 a.m. with a not-so-normal practice session, the Breakers still had plenty of energy nine hours later, when they traveled to face Costa Mesa. Despite a somewhat slow start to the Orange Coast League opener for both teams, the Breakers shifted gears and went on several scoring runs that led to an eventual, 22-7 victory. Laguna has not lost an OCL game since the league formed for athletic competition for the 2006-07 school year.