BREAKERS ROUNDUP: Singles strong in early going

The Laguna Beach girls’ tennis team flexed its collective muscle in singles play Tuesday during a 13-5 nonleague win over visiting Capistrano Valley.

The Breakers got sweeps at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, as Alex Tachovsky won by scores of 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 and Maddie Jaeger scored 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 wins.

Haley Moss, at No. 3 singles, dropped a 3-6 score but came back to post 6-4, 6-1 wins.

“Our singles players did a great job,” Laguna Coach Jimmy Gleason said. “Alex and Maddie really took it to them. Haley is coming off an injury, and she’s trying to get back to normal. She won two of three and she played well. She will to continue to improve her play, too, as she physically gets better.”

In doubles action, the No. 1 team of Lauren Mendoza and Claire Jaeger posted 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 scores and No. 3 Alison Azera and Bianca Sganga won two of three, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The win put Laguna at 2-1 on the season.

“We have a really good team and our doubles are good, but they have a lot of work to do,” Gleason said. “We need to work on execution and consistency.”

Laguna plays a trio of nonleague matches next week, beginning with a road test Monday at Mater Dei. The Breakers then have back-to-back home matches, Tuesday against San Clemente and Thursday against Edison.

“That’s basically the end of our nonleague schedule, so I want the girls to go out and have fun and play hard,” Gleason said.

Laguna begins Orange Coast League play on Sept. 30 hosting Godinez.

? Girls’ Volleyball

A strong defensive effort Tuesday at Dana Hills keyed Laguna’s 3-1 victory over the Dolphins.

The Breakers won the nonleague match, 25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 25-14, to improve to 2-0 while handing Dana Hills its first loss of the season.

“I thought as a team, fundamentally-wise, we were making some great plays on defense,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said. “We had more digs in this match than in any match in the last five years since I’ve been back here coaching. We also passed the ball OK for this time of year.”

On the defensive side, junior Paulette Grand Pre registered 22 digs in four games. Sophomore Hayley Wyett also hit double-digits in digs with 12.

“Paulette was really solid out there and did a great job,” Stewart said. “I also thought that Piper Obradovich had as good a game at the outside as anyone has here in the past five years. She showed just how dominant she can be.”

Laguna begins play today at the Dave Mohs Tournament with opening-day matches against Tesoro and Ayala.

?

Cross-Country

Laguna’s boys’ team came out strong on the opening day of the season Saturday at the Laguna Hills Invitational.

The Breakers had two runners place among the top 20. Sophomore Matt Neev finished second in a personal-best time of 15 minutes 24 seconds and junior Tommy Newton-Neal was 15th with a personal-best time of 16:09.

Senior Horacio Acosta, a transfer from Santa Ana High, was Laguna’s third top finisher with a 26th-place showing of 16:35.

Laguna Coach Dave Brobeck said he raced 43 of his 64 runners in the event, but rested a few runners for “precautionary reasons.”

“The race was a good start,” Brobeck said. “We have a new transfer senior from Santa Ana High School that we’re happy to have in the mix. Horacio is a great kid who looks to give us even more varsity depth.”

Laguna’s boys will run in two invitationals Saturday. Brobeck said that a majority of the squad will run the Woodbridge Invitational and 12 runners will compete at the Iolani Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Iolani Invitational will hold both a varsity and varsity B race.

“We hope to have a very competitive and successful early season varsity race here,” Brobeck said of the Hawaii trip.

? Girls’ Golf

Laguna ended nonleague play this week with a match at Aliso Niguel on Wednesday and a contest with Mission Viejo on Thursday. It begins defense of its Golden West League title when it opens its league slate Tuesday against Costa Mesa at Mesa Linda Golf Course.

The scores from both nonleague matches weren’t available at press time.

In recent action, the Breakers lost to Aliso Niguel, 209-237, at Aliso Viejo Country Club. Laguna’s top two players, Grace Komoroczy and Karina Shaw, shot well with scores of 39 and 40, respectively.

“Even though we lost, I was pleased with our team score at this point in the season,” said Laguna Coach Val Quigley, noting that Aliso Niguel had defeated the Breakers, 224-267, a year ago. “We have narrowed the gap.”

The Breakers also fell to St. Margaret’s, 254-283, at San Juan Hills Golf Course.

“San Juan Hills is not an easy course, but the score certainly showed that we need to improve on consistent ball contact and our short game if we want to win league again this year,” Quigley said.

? CIF Rankings

The Southern Section office released new rankings this week for football and boys’ and girls’ cross-country.

As it had in the preseason poll, Laguna’s boys’ cross-country team comes in at No. 1 in the Division IV poll.

In girls’ cross-country, Laguna is again ranked seventh in Division IV. Heading the poll is La Reina of Thousand Oaks.