GIRLS’ ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Lara Carlsen

School: Corona del Mar

Sport: Volleyball

Position: Middle blocker

Class: Senior

Carlsen wasn’t happy with her performance in Corona del Mar’s five-game victory over El Toro in the championship match of the Redondo Beach girls’ volleyball tournament Saturday, but she nevertheless was named the tournament’s most valuable player and Corona del Mar Dale Flickinger said Carlsen helped turn the match around in the final game. El Toro defeated the Sea Kings, Orange County’s second-ranked team, 15-3, in the fourth game but Carlsen’s hitting and blocking early in the fifth game helped Corona del Mar take a 4-0 lead. After that El Toro got only as close as trailing, 9-4, and the Sea Kings won 15-4. Flickinger said Carlsen, a first-team Southern Section 5-A selection who is featured this month in Volleyball Monthly magazine, has been a key player in the Sea Kings’ early-season success. “She’s one of our better hitters and the player most other teams key on,” Flickinger said.

Other top performers:

* Denisha Bendz, a Costa Mesa cross-country runner who ran 18 minutes 14 seconds for three miles to win the Division III race at the Dana Hills Invitational Saturday.

* Misty Hartung and Heather Lowe, who were each all-tournament selections after helping Cypress to the championship of the Orange Tournament. Cypress defeated Loara, 11-2, 4-11, 11-1, in the final Saturday.

* Heather Killeen, a Valencia cross-country runner who ran 17 minutes 42 seconds for three miles to win the Division II race at the Dana Hills Invitational Saturday.

* Shelley Taylor, an Edison cross-country runner who ran her best time--17:02 for three miles--to win the Division I race at the Dana Hills Invitational Saturday.