Strong starts

Three Laguna Beach High sports teams -- boys’ water polo, girls’

tennis, and girls’ volleyball -- opened their seasons on winning

notes.

BOYS’ WATER POLO

Laguna began its 2005 campaign Tuesday with an exciting 12-11

double-overtime victory over La Habra.

The Breakers bolted to an early lead, but the visiting Highlanders

rallied to tie the score, 7-7, at the half.

Laguna held a one-goal advantage entering the third period, but La

Habra again caught the Breakers to force overtime.

Senior center Mike Dick scored the winning goal in the second

overtime, during which Laguna shut out the Highlanders.

Dick, who also scored in the first overtime, finished with three

goals.

Senior attacker Adam Kaplan led all scorers with six goals.

Senior attacker Kelan Hurley scored twice and junior utility

Cameron Brinkman had one goal to complete the Laguna scoring attack.

“Mike Dick really picked it up for us in overtime with a couple of

goals, and Adam Kaplan had a huge game,” Laguna coach Rick McKee

said. “Adam kept us in the game. The kids showed a lot of intensity.

We went up pretty big in the first half, then kind of relaxed. We

weren’t playing real well, but we fought through it. That was nice to

see.”

GIRLS’ TENNIS

Laguna’s season began Tuesday with an 11-7 home court win over

Sage Hill.

Reigning Pacific Coast League singles champion Claire Rietsch

sweep at No. 1 singles, and the Breakers’ No. 1 doubles team of Katie

Ochwat and Kellie Ammerman also swept past their Lightning opponents.

Lorren Butterwick and Lauren Thigpen won two at No. 2 doubles,

then Thigpen and Ali Hunter teamed to win the third set.

Gabby Robinson and Kristen Drury won two of three at No. 3

doubles.

“It was a nice opening win for us,” Laguna coach Greg Weiss said.

“The girls played well.”

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Laguna opened its season on Sept. 9 with a 25-23, 19-25, 25-21,

25-21 victory over visiting Huntington Beach.

Senior outside hitter Stephanie Darnall had 19 kills and 24 digs,

and sophomore outside hitter Dana Hutchinson had 17 kills for the Breakers.

Laguna entered the season ranked second in CIF-Southern Section

Division IV-AA, while Huntington Beach was ranked sixth in Division

II-A.

“We hung in there and played well, but we weren’t full speed

because we were missing a couple of starters,” Laguna coach Lance

Stewart said. “It was a good opener for us.”

On Tuesday, Laguna played well against Mater Dei but dropped a

17-25, 32-30, 21-25 match to the host Monarchs.

Darnall and Hutchinson had 13 and 11 kills, respectively.

At one point during the match, Stewart had two freshmen, a

sophomore and two juniors out on the court against a senior-laden

Mater Dei squad that is ranked third in Division II-A.

“Just like the Huntington match, we were without a few starters

but still played well,” Stewart said. “We had a couple of nice swings

to win that second game against a Mater Dei team that is loaded with

seniors. This was a good environment for the girls to play in. It was

a big match on the road against a strong opponent, and I thought the

girls did a nice job.”