State title hopes end

So the final match of the 2006 season didn’t turn out the way the Laguna Beach High girls’ volleyball team had hoped it would Saturday.

Still, a five-game loss to Campolindo of Moraga in the CIF State Volleyball Championships Division III final in San Jose could not dampen a season that was anything less than stellar.

Laguna’s bid to win the school’s first state title in the sport was denied by Campolindo which held on to edge the Breakers, 25-21, 15-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13, at San Jose State University.

The match marked just the second time that a Laguna team had played in a state championship match.

Campolindo claimed its first state title.

“I’m extremely proud of this team,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said. “The girls played terrific volleyball all year.

“For that day, in that time period, though, they (Campolindo) were the better team.”

Junior Dana Hutchinson recorded 23 saves and 24 digs for the Breakers. Zoe Garrett had 17 kills, 15 digs and nine aces, Piper Obradovich seven kills and eight digs, Mychaela Miller 24 assists, 11 digs and four aces and Alex Palmer 24 assists, 23 digs and three aces.

“We missed more shots and made more hitting errors than in any match we’ve played this season,” Stewart said. “We just didn’t control the ball the way we had been doing in our playoff run. When you aren’t able to do that, you never can get into any kind of rhythm.

“You get bit sometimes, and we got bit.”

The Breakers will lose five senior players — Garrett and Miller, who are headed to USC next fall, and Jilly Petersen, Tiffany Chen and Brooke Kimball — to graduation in June.

“Jilly was up with me on varsity for four years and helped us win a lot of matches,” Stewart said. “More importantly, she’s such a nice person, as are all the girls. And I just can’t say enough about Zoe and Mychaela.

“Brooke started all of last year and helped lead us to the semifinals and Tiffany this year helped lead us to a CIF championship. Her play helped us beat Corona del Mar and Santa Margarita in the state tournament.”

Laguna concluded its 2006 season with a 29-6 record. Along the way, the Breakers captured four of six championship events they entered this year winning Orange County tournament, Orange Coast League, CIF-Southern Section Division II-AA and Southern California Regional Division III titles.

The Breakers scored several big-time victories, including one over Santa Margarita to advance to the state tournament, and three times defeated rival Corona del Mar.

“I couldn’t have asked for more from this team,” Stewart said. “The girls grew as people and really came together as a team. They worked hard throughout the year. It was a glorious season.”