Breakers teams victorious

Rebounding from its first loss of the season, the Laguna Beach High

boys’ water polo team responded Tuesday with an 11-6 home victory over Loyola.

The Breakers broke open a tight match by outscoring the Cubs, 4-1,

in the fourth quarter.

Junior attacker Johnny Holcomb led Laguna in scoring with four

goals.

Mike Dick netted three goals, Adam Kaplan scored twice, and

Cameron Brinkman and Peter Phelps each posted a goal.

In its previous outing, Laguna found the going tough against

second-ranked Foothill, which got seven goals from J.W. Krumpholz and

scored a 15-8 nonleague victory at Tustin High.

Krumpholz had a big second quarter, a quarter in which the Knights

gained control of the nonleague match.

“We played Foothill fairly well, and played them to a 6-6 game in

the second half,” McKee said. “They have an incredible player who

took over the game.”

Dick led all Laguna scorers with four goals. Brinkman and Phelps

each scored twice for the Breakers.

Laguna opened play Thursday in the prestigious South Coast

Tournament, which continues today through Saturday at five county

high schools.

“I don’t expect us right now to be world beaters,” McKee said. “We

only have two returning starters back from last year, and this team

is somewhat inexperienced. We need to get that big-game experience,

which we are getting as we play our schedule.

“What I’m trying to really get them to understand is to improve on

each game. They are doing that. The goal is to get them to the point

of beating Northwood, Corona del Mar and win in CIF.”

In girls’ volleyball, Laguna launched its Pacific Coast League

schedule with a 25-14, 20-25, 25-18, 25-15 victory over visiting

Northwood (5-3, 0-1).

Stephanie Darnall had 27 kills, 19 digs and five aces, Dana

Hutchinson had 22 kills and 20 digs, and Paige Obradovich had 16 digs

for the Breakers, who improved to 5-2 overall.

In previous action, Laguna posted a 3-1 record at the 26th annual

Dave Mohs Tournament, which was hosted by Edison High.

The Breakers won their first three matches by sweeping Upland,

Temescal Canyon and Sage Hill before falling to El Toro.

El Toro went on to upend Esperanza Monday night for the tournament

championship.

Hutchinson finished the tournament with 26 kills, and Darnall had

24 kills.

Laguna opens play today at the Cougar Classic at Capistrano Valley

High.

In girls’ tennis, Laguna went on the road for the first time this

season and came away with an 11-7 victory over Dana Hills.

The Breakers got sweeps from No. 1 singles Claire Rietsch and No.

2 Lyndsay Kinstler, a transfer from Cornelia Connelly High who played

her first match for Laguna.