Laguna’s Dvorak takes it to the limit, reaches the final of the CIF individual tournament
The Laguna Beach High girls’ tennis team is going into the off-season riding high, and singles player Summer Dvorak has etched her name into the program’s record book.
Dvorak took the 2014 CIF Southern Section season to the max by reaching the singles championship match of the CIF-SS Individual Tennis Tournament. On Monday at Seal Beach Tennis Center, the Laguna senior earned a runner-up finish after Ena Shibahara of Peninsula High repeated as CIF champion with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
The Vanderbilt-bound Dvorak is the first Laguna singles player to reach the CIF Individual Tournament final, Laguna Coach Don Davis said. Davis noted that the Laguna doubles team of Claire Rietsch/Lindsay Kinstler won the CIF doubles title in 2005.
“What a fantastic run for Summer,” Davis said. “She played great all the way through. She played tough and from behind in a few matches, and her only loss was to a player (Shibahara) who was the defending champion.”
Dvorak, the 2014 Orange Coast League singles champion, reserved a spot in Monday’s final by posting impressive victories.
After a first-round bye, she played two matches on Dec. 5. She rallied for a 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 win against Kelsey Bryant of Carpinteria, then took down Emily Maxfield of Murrieta Valley, 6-2, 6-3. Dvorak had lost, 7-6 (10-8) to Maxfield in the Breakers’ 12-6 CIF-SS Division 2 playoff semifinal loss last month.
Dvorak also played twice — an hour apart, on Monday. She clawed her way back from a first-set loss, and a 1-4 deficit in the second set, to Ryan Peus of Peninsula, to claim a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 semifinal victory to storm to the final.
An hour later, Dvorak took on Shibahara for the title.
Laguna sent both its singles players, Dvorak and Kira Hamilton, and both doubles teams, Bailey Jaeger/Kelly Keller, and Madeline Loomis/Ashley Shelton, to the tournament’s qualifying round (quarterfinals). Davis said it was the first time that Laguna had placed two singles players and two doubles teams in the tournament’s qualifying round.
“It was a great ending to the season for our team,” he said. “It couldn’t have been better.”
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Girls’ Water Polo
The top-ranked Breakers went to 2-0 by shutting out visiting Edison on Tuesday, 19-0.
The Breakers, who sprinted to an 11-0 halftime lead, were led by Makenzie Fischer who had six goals and three steals; Aria Fischer with five goals, four assists and three steals; Mia Salvini with three goals; Bella Baldridge with a goal and four assists, and goalies Holly Parker and Thea Walsh with five and 10 saves, respectively.
Laguna is ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division 1.
Edison received votes in this week’s polling, but just missed a Division 1 top 10 ranking.
“It was nice to have our full team back in the water for the first time this season,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “I thought the girls did a great job defensively, making big strides from our last game (Rosary) where we gave up 11 goals, to today where we held them (Edison) scoreless. Any time you hold a good team like Edison to zero goals, that’s a good day.
“Our 5-on-6 was also very good and much improved from Friday which was great to see.”
Laguna started its season Dec. 5 and hosted Rosary. The Breakers defeated the Royals, 19-11. Salvini led the scoring with five goals, Brighid Burnes scored four goals, Baldridge had three goals, three assists and three steals, Natalie Selin two goals and two assists, and Parker, a CIF-SS Division 1 second-team goalie last year, had seven saves.
“I thought it was a pretty typical opening game, a little bit sloppy at times but also some great signs of things to come,” Damato said. “We felt like we gave up too many goals and could have played better on 5-on-6.”
In their next three games, the Breakers face ranked teams in Riverside ML King (No. 5, Division 3), Orange Lutheran (No. 7, Division 1) and Newport Harbor (No. 3, Division 1).
Laguna hosts ML King at 4:15 p.m. next Tuesday.
“I’m excited for the next two weeks, in general,” Damato said. “We get some time to improve over the next week and will be able to use each one of those games to find areas where we need more work.”
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Girls’ Soccer
The Breakers battled visiting Sage Hill to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday at Guyer Field.
Laguna started the scoring in the first half. The goal came in the 25th minute off a corner kick by Audrey Pillsbury. The senior, who signed with Vassar, curled her kick to the near post where sophomore defender Emily Addis charged and scored by forcing a ball deflection off a Sage Hill player into the net.
The Lightning drew even when they scored off a counter attack near the end of the half.
Senior goalie Kylie George had six saves for the Breakers.
Laguna opened play last Saturday at the 32nd Ocean View Winter Classic, and played Tustin to a scoreless tie despite holding a 10-5 advantage on the Tillers in shots taken. George and sophomore goalie Regan Caraher teamed to make two huge back-to-back plays in the final minute to preserve the draw.
Laguna plays two more matches on Saturday at the Ocean View Winter Classic. The Breakers play at 11:30 a.m. at La Mirada, and at 4:10 p.m. against Brea at Tustin High.
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Boys’ Soccer
The Breakers took on Northwood in a nonleague match on Dec. 5, and fell to the visiting Timberwolves, 3-1, at Guyer Field.
Willy Wheeler scored for the Breakers in the opening half, and the teams went into halftime deadlocked at 1-1.
“Willy scored a great individual goal and showed how dangerous he can be against any opposition,” Laguna Coach Dan Richards said.
“This was a very tough game and Northwood definitely deserved their win. Northwood had a huge advantage both in physicality and experience, making it a great learning tool for our young squad. It showed us some areas we need to work on along with highlighting some areas that we know are going to be tough to compete with throughout the season.
“There were also some bright moments and, after having our Wednesday game rained out, it was good to finally get a second game under our belts.”
Laguna’s original home opener on Dec. 3 against Dana Hills was called early in the first half due to inclement weather.
The Breakers took on Trabuco Hills in a nonleague match on Wednesday. The score wasn’t available at press time. They visit Tesoro on Friday for a 6:15 p.m. nonleague match, and next week nonleague matches at Aliso Niguel (7 p.m.) on Monday, and host Beckman (6 p.m.) on Wednesday and Garden Grove Santiago on Friday (4:45 p.m.).
CIF Weekly Rankings
Girls’ Water Polo: Laguna Beach (No. 1, Division 1).
Twitter: @MikeSciacca