Laguna looking for postseason success

The start to the 2007 girls’ volleyball season may have been a slow one out of the gate for the Laguna Beach Breakers, but now the team is on a roll heading into the start of the second season: the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

Laguna, which won the Division II-AA title last November, began defense of that title Thursday against Beckman.

Laguna , the division’s top-seed, drew a first-round bye but Beckman had to defeat Glendora in the opening round of the playoffs Tuesday to earn a date with the Breakers.

The Patriots, the No. 2 team out of the Pacific Coast League, did just that by sweeping the Tartans, 25-20, 25-13, 25-22.

Thursday’s match score wasn’t available at press time.

“Beckman’s about as tough a first-round opposition as I’ve ever faced as a head coach,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said Wednesday. “They took Corona del Mar to the wire when they played them. They do a lot of things real well.”

A Laguna win over Beckman would advance the Breakers to a quarterfinal round match Saturday against the winner of the St. Joseph (Lakewood)/Walnut second-round match also played Thursday.

Laguna began the season winning just one of six matches to open a treacherous schedule.

Since that start, the Breakers have rolled onward to win 17 of their final 19 matches to bring an 18-7 record into the postseason.

“We started slow, but we’ve been playing some decent volleyball down the stretch,” Stewart said. “We’re excited for the playoffs, and we’ve had a good week of practices.”

Following Saturday’s quarterfinal round, the division semifinals will be played Tuesday.

On Nov. 1, the Laguna varsity team played an alumni squad from the school. The varsity won the match, 25-17, 23-25, 15-9.

“It was one of the best alumni matches yet,” said Stewart, who coached the varsity. “It was a good time.”

Alumni players included Linda Robertson-Hanley (1978), Janis Brahams-Strockis (1978), Wendy Potter (1978), Michelle Bowlin-Luster (1978), Karen Lynch-Roberts (1979), Hillary Hinwood-Hillemann (1979 , Franchesca DeCasas (1979), Carrie Zeller (1996), Cameryn DeGeus (1998), Lynne Brinkman (1998), Jamie Swintek-Jameson (1998) and Maggie Mallarian (2000).