Tough stretch has positives

It was a tight squeeze for any team to come out of unscathed.

Just two days after playing plenty of volleyball at the prestigious Torrey Pines California Challenge, the Laguna Beach girls’ volleyball team had to turn around and take on Corona del Mar in a key nonleague match Monday that pitted ranked and longtime rivals against each other.

Laguna, the No. 5 team in Division I-A, fell behind by two games to the No. 2 Sea Kings (Division I-AA), won the next game but ended up saddled with a 25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23 defeat.

Piper Obradovich, whose heavy hitting landed several kills down the line to lead Laguna to a win in game No. 3, paced the Breakers with a team-leading 23 kills and added 11 digs. Paulette Grand Pre had 15 kills and 12 digs, Alex Rieckhoff had 11 kills to go along with 11 digs, Allison Palmer registered a team-best 19 digs and Alexandra Palmer added 49 assists.

“I knew scheduling that (CdM) match would be tough for us,” said Laguna Beach Coach Lance Stewart, who also didn’t offer up any excuses for the loss. “We just didn’t bring enough energy or urgency to the match, which are two things we needed to do if we hoped to come out of it with a win.”

Stewart, though, said he was “really pleased” with the way his squad performed over the weekend at the California Challenge in San Diego. The Breakers were seeded first in their pool in a tournament that featured six of the nation’s top 40 ranked teams, according to PrepVolleyball.com., including No. 1 La Costa Canyon. Laguna went up against the nation’s top-ranked team and played a strong match before succumbing, 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-25. The Breakers took a 24-19 lead in the second game and then held on for the two-point win. In the third game, they led, 18-16, and were tied three times after that — the last being at 21 — before dropping a tough one.

In game No. 4, Laguna led, 12-11, before La Costa Canyon went on a 14-3 tear to win the game and match.

“We played some great volleyball in San Diego,” Stewart said. “I think the one thing we learned was that we were capable of playing against the best and beating the best. It was a great experience for our team and hopefully it will serve as a boost to our confidence.”

Laguna ended up going 2-2 in the tournament and tied for seventh place with host Torrey Pines. The Breakers swept Bakersfield and won, 3-1, over Santa Fe Christian before falling to La Costa Canyon.

In their final match, one in which Stewart said he played “different combos” in an effort to rest players for Monday’s Corona del Mar match, the Breakers lost three, 25-20 games to Marymount, the No. 2-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division I-A.

For the remainder of the regular season — save for an alumni match on Nov. 7 — the Breakers will play only Orange Coast League matches, the next of which comes at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Costa Mesa.

The Breakers also play a 5:30 p.m. match Thursday at Godinez to begin the second round of league play.

“I think the thing from here on out, the key for us will be to go out and compete hard in practice and work to get better,” Stewart said. “It’s all about league play now and I want us to play hard and go into CIF (playoffs) healthy. It’s important that we be healthy and ready to go for the playoffs.”