Laguna’s Ross to play at Stanford

As the only projected senior on the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team, Lexie Ross will undoubtedly be a leader.

A year from now, she’ll be a freshman again, just part of the cycle called college. But that should be really exciting for Ross, too.

She’s committed to Stanford University, she said Tuesday.

Ross, a utility player, was also considering Harvard and Michigan. After a recruiting trip to Palo Alto, though, she said she “felt like it was where I needed to be.”

“It’s reputation as a school and the coaches are amazing,” Ross said. “‘Vibe’ is such an overused word, but I loved the feeling I got on campus and with the coaches.”

Ross earned first-team CIF Division II and Orange Coast League status last year. On a senior-dominated team, she still scored 75 goals and had 27 assists and 42 steals for the Breakers, who win the CIF Southern Section Division II title over Montebello.

Over the summer, Ross won a gold medal at the Junior Olympics with the SET (Saddleback-El Toro) 18-and-under girls’ team.

Recent Laguna graduates Natasha Schulman (UCLA) and Sarah Zuziak (UC Santa Barbara) were also on that team.

At Stanford, she said he’ll join friends like Cassie Churnside, Kate Baldoni and Amber Oland, formerly of Villa Park, Corona del Mar and Foothill high schools, respectively.

And there is always last year’s Division II Player of the Year Annika Dries, the dominant center who is now a freshman with the Cardinal.

“I know a lot of players on that team,” Ross said.

“I probably have played with about 50% of them. It was really helpful. I talked to them all weekend as to why they chose that school and not other schools.”

As for this coming year with the Breakers, the team is young but expected to be strong contenders to win yet another Division II title.

“Last year we were more center-based and this year I think we’ll be more driving based,” Ross said. “We’re close, which helps. You have to like your team, and we’ve got that taken care of.”