Breakers move on

Two down. Three to go.

The Laguna Beach High boys’ volleyball team is just two matches away from a spot in the CIF Southern Section Division II final, after the Breakers dominated the first two rounds of the playoffs, with two consecutive three-straight-game wins.

The Breakers swept visiting Crescenta Valley 25-9, 25-14, 25-21 on May 9, and came back strong on Tuesday to defeat host Beckman in a 25-22, 25-21-25-16 win.

Laguna Beach will play against Dos Pueblos at a site to be determined by a coin flip.

Crescenta Valley was the No. 3 representative in the Pacific League and Beckman was the No. 2 in Pacific Coast. Beckman previously defeated Hemet on May 9, the No. 2 team in Sunbelt League.

Tuesday’s match against Beckman proved to be more of a battle for the Breakers than the first round last Friday. The Patriots showed resistance with a few key plays and solid blocking, but the Breakers hurt themselves and kept the score close by failing to execute a number of plays.

Had they set up properly and not missed those opportunities, they would have defeated Beckman even quicker. Still, a sweep is not so bad.

“We played with effort and intensity,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said. “But we didn’t execute on the simple plays and that allowed [Beckman] to stay with us.”

The first two games were neck and neck from start to finish, but the Breakers did manage to separate themselves in the middle of the third game. Shawn Merz and Lorenzo Torriero made on kill after another, and Merz was fierce with his serving – recording six aces in game three, and ten overall.

“Shawn has the capability to really dominate a game with hard and heavy serves,” Stewart said. “Serving will be our key to the finals.”

Cooper Gwaltney also recorded two aces, and Clay Knapp had one.

Merz and Torriero had 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Chris Reames had nine digs, and Knapp had 34 assists.

In the match on May 9, Merz made 18 kills; Reames and Mike Kahl had 8 and 7 digs; Knapp recorded 37 assists.