Artists hone up in summer

Mike Sciacca

There isn’t the pressure associated with the regular season during

summer volleyball play, so the Woodbridge Summer League has afforded

the Laguna Beach High girls’ volleyball program the chance to have

some fun and fine-tune their game.

The Artists capped the two week season Tuesday with a 15-13 loss

to Villa Park at Woodbridge High in Irvine.

On Thursday night, they were to meet Capistrano Valley in the

first game of the season-ending tournament, which will determine the

summer league champion.

“Summer allows you the chance to play everyone, and everyone is

getting equal playing time,” Laguna Beach coach Shawn Patchell said.

“It’s been a fun summer league and the nice thing about the summer is

that it’s not the wins and losses that counts.”

Patchell acknowledged the play of returning varsity player,

sophomore Joy Henderson, who has been a team leader during summer

league play.

Sophomore Blakely Burns has been a “great asset,” he said, and

pointed out the steady play of Chloe Merz.

Brittany Fields, a tough server, served up several points in the

Villa Park game.

“It’s great to see the girls improving and developing their game,”

he added.