NORWALK – Last week, the Laguna Beach boys volleyball team walked off the court at Cerritos College disappointed having let a potential CIF title slip away.
After a week of being able to regroup and refocus, the Breakers (27-6) were able to wrap up their fourth CIF SoCal Regional title, defeating Saddleback Valley Christian, 25-13, 25-15, 23-25, 25-11, in the Division III final at Cerritos College on Saturday.
“We had a disappointing loss ….we were right there and had a really good chance,” Laguna Beach coach Darren Utterback said of last week’s loss. “This week has all been about trying to get them to believe that this team (SVC) was good.
“I actually felt like we came out really focused and determined to play well. We left the door open a little in the third game and they pushed it open.”
After the Warriors (33-4) managed to stay alive in the match, the Breakers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the fourth set and never looked back.
“We got back in the huddle going into the fourth and I didn’t have to say a word,” Utterback said. “They were really angry with themselves and came out determined in that fourth game.”
Jack Wyett led the Breakers with 19 kills. Jake Hexberg added 15 and Noah Blanton had 16.
“The first couple of days (of the week) it was tough to get back into the routine of practicing,” Blanton said. “We had to look at it the same we did going into the Esperanza game (in the CIF final) and we had to focus and play like it was a CIF final.”
Noah Dyer led the Warriors with 13 kills. Torrey Karlsen had six. Jon Minsberg had 20 assists.
In the third set, the Breakers jumped out to a 9-4 lead, but the Warriors wouldn’t go away that easily. They took a 13-12 lead on a Laguna error and then scored five consecutive points to take control of the set.
“These guys are very competitive, but the fact that when things were tight and not going well for us, you saw there wasn’t a lot of division and that’s what we’ve been teaching,” SVC coach Ryan Van Renssalear said. “It is a lame cliché, but these guys were already victorious coming in here, considering how far our program has come.”
Saddleback Valley Christian won its second consecutive CIF title last week.
Laguna Beach won regional titles in consecutive years from 2009 to 2011. This was the first ever final appearance for the Warriors.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com