Dries best in CIF, league

After dominating the CIF Southern Section Division II all year, the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team did it when it came to awards time, too.

Senior Annika Dries was selected Division II Player of the Year, one of four Breakers on the first team, as selected by the Southern California Water Polo Coaches’ Assn.

Seniors Taylor Dodson and Natasha Schulman, as well as junior Lexie Ross, made the first team. Sophomore Jessie Holechek was selected to the second team and Ethan Damato was recognized as Division II Coach of the Year.

Dries, bound for Stanford, scored a team-high 125 goals for the Division II champion Breakers (31-5). Also the Orange Coast League MVP, Dries contributed 39 assists and 39 steals.

She had a season-high eight goals against San Clemente in the CIF semifinals and added two goals and a pair of assists in the 9-5 win over Montebello to win the Division II title Feb. 28.

Dodson, headed to Cal, had 82 goals, 54 assists and 52 steals for Laguna Beach. The UCLA-bound Schulman, a defender, had 63 goals, 41 assists and 55 steals.

Ross, a utility player, had 75 goals, 27 assists and 42 steals. She scored a season-high seven against Capistrano Valley on Feb. 21.

A driver, Holechek tallied 54 goals, 29 assists and 42 steals.

Dodson, Schulman, Ross and Holechek also earned first-team All-Orange Coast League status.

On the second team for league were UC Santa Barbara-bound senior goalie Sarah Zuziak, sophomores Etianne Manetta and Jessica Shusko and freshmen Yoshi Andersen and Melena Masson.

Damato’s squad, which won Laguna Beach’s second CIF title and first since 2001, finished off its season with a third-place finish at the CIF Southern Section Masters Tournament.