Sea Kings too much

Bryce Alderton

A depleted Laguna Beach High squad did the best IT could to hang

with Corona del Mar, for four games anyway the Pacific Coast League

opener for both schools, but the Sea Kings rebounded from a sloppy

third game to down the Breakers at Laguna Beach Tuesday evening.

The Sea Kings (9-6, 1-0 in the Pacific Coast League), ranked No. 3

in CIF Southern Section Division III-A, defeated host Laguna Beach

(No. 2 in CIF Division IV-AA), 15-4, 15-5, 12-15, 15-3, largely on an

effective serving game.

‘This is the best serving team I’ve had in 23 years,” said CdM

Coach Bill Christiansen. “They serve extremely hard, extremely low,

and have great float on the ball.”

On numerous occasions CdM servers found spots on the court where

the Breakers weren’t, mostly in the middle of the court behind the

front line and in front of the back line.

When Laguna Beach did return serve, either Claire Allen, Jordan

Smith or Lindsay Ensign was there for the kill. Allen tallied a

team-high 10 kills, Smith added eight and Ensign had seven kills for

a CdM team that started off hot, winning the first two games fairly

easily before Laguna came back to take the third game.

Laguna only suited six players because four players were serving

the last match of a suspension for behavioral reasons, said Laguna

Coach Curt Hanson, who was proud of the way his team fought back to

win the third game.

“I’m very happy with their performance,” Hanson said. “We’re

inexperienced in some ways so we’re playing overmatched, but they

hung in there.”

Laguna’s Joy Henderson made only her third start at setter Tuesday

and added five kills for the Breakers. Sophomore hitter Blakeley

Burns tallied a team-high 10 kills and a team-high four digs while

senior outside hitter Hillary Frimond added seven kills for the

Breakers, who came back to win the third game from a 9-5 deficit with

Frimond serving two consecutive aces.

“(Henderson) was outstanding,” Christiansen said.

CdM jumped out to an 11-8 cushion before Laguna put the heat on

with three straight points to tie it at 11, and eventually won the

game on an ace from Brooke Ammerman.

CdM’s Lauren Loe started serving at 2-1 in the fourth game and was

still serving eight points later as the Sea Kings burst to a 10-1

lead, making crisper passes and connecting more solidly with the ball

then they did in the third game.

The combination of Allen, Smith, Britta Nielsen and Ensign rattled

off several of their kills during the eight-point run in the fourth

game.

Christiansen said his team lost focus in the third game and is

still maturing, but he is confident about jumping into league season.

“We didn’t keep our focus all the way through,” he said. “We are a

young team that tends to play to the level of our competition. As

they mature they will play to their potential all the time.”

Christiansen inserted his reserves in the second game and they

responded well.

Riley Dennis had a stuff block and Breanne Ogden tallied four

kills. Valerie Westhart had two kills and a service ace, while

MacKenzie Conover served the last four points and added one kill

along with a service ace and two digs. Lauren Snell added one kill.

The Sea Kings face league foe Tesoro, ranked fifth in CIF Division

IV-AA, at home on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in a match Christiansen looks

forward to.

“That will be a big one,” he said.