Laguna Beach thrilled with SoCal title

MISSION VIEJO — Laguna Beach's gutsiest effort came on the day it mattered most this season, as the Breakers fended off Francis Parker to win the CIF Southern California Regional Division III championship on Saturday afternoon.

The anything-but-easy, three-game sweep — 25-23, 26-24, 25-23 — certainly captured the Breakers' early-season aspirations of raising a postseason banner.

But emotionally, the title brought a rare sign of satisfaction to Laguna coach Lance Stewart.

"I've never seen him so happy before. Never. It was crazy," Laguna senior Harrison Phelps said. "It's a huge relief. This is our rebuttal. There's no better way to end it."

For the Breakers (26-5), a feeling of redeption poured out during the postgame celebration and instantly dissolved the sting left from losing in the CIF-SS Division II semifinals as the top seed.

"We had 6 a.m. practices (after that loss.) I'm a pretty tough guy to play for," Stewart said with a smile. "But they gutted it all out and we probably played our guttiest match of the year in terms of just sticking to it."

In the third set against a resilient Francis Parker (32-4), Laguna reached championship point at 24-21. Mental errors, however, delayed Laguna from closing out — a trend throughout all three games.

Parker outside hitter Bill Evans scored back-to-back points on a floater and block, respectively, to rally within a point, 24-23.

But Laguna outside hitter and team captain Cooper Gwaltney nailed the championship point with a near-side spike.

The game was tied 18-18 after Parker's Myles Muagututia launched a cross-court rocket to erase a five-point deficit earlier in the game.

"I thought we were in control of the second and third games, but we let them back in," Stewart said. "We made some mental errors, they made some great plays and that happens in a championship game. but we made plays when we had to."

A momentum-less second game concluded when Laguna setter Travis Woloson closed out the pivotal back-and-forth game with a spike and ace.

Laguna also received back-to-back clutch points in the opening game, forcing Parker in several game-point situations. Outside hitter Scotty Chapel nailed two spikes down the near sideline to put Laguna up 24-21.

"They've got something that nobody can every take away from them now," Stewart said. "It's nice to set our goals that we can accomplish, and they did it."

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com