Beating schools with significantly larger student bodies has become a hallmark of Laguna Athletics, especially in Girls Volleyball. The Owls face trouble year-in and year-out with bigger schools in higher divisions refusing to play them because of the drastic effects a loss to a smaller program has on their rankings.
However, Laguna managed to schedule several strong opponents this year after an uncharacteristically early exit from the CIF-SS playoffs last season, and the girls capitalized on their opportunities, opening their season with 3-0 sweeps of Santa Ynez and Nordhoff before hosting and dominating the annual Laguna Blanca Invitational.
Laguna shredded its pool play competition, capturing overwhelming wins over Cabrillo, Santa Paula and Holy Martyrs and clinching a spot in the semifinals against Palm Springs. After another lopsided sweep, the Owls entered the finals against a familiar foe in the Santa Ynez Pirates. Led by senior captain and tournament MVP Phoebe Madsen and sophomore all-tournament team outside hitter Caylin Zimmerman, Laguna seized the tournament title and a second win over Santa Ynez with a convincing 2-0 victory.
After a slate of tough competition and a pair of hard-fought victories in the Dave Mohs Tournament in Newport, the team came back with invaluable experience for a contest with cross-town rival Santa Barbara. The Owls overwhelmed the Dons in the first set, and ran away with a 25-18 victory. Santa Barbara responded behind the firepower of senior outside hitters Jessyca Beksa and Lourda Weger, taking the next three games 25-17, 25-15 and 25-21.
Despite the tough loss, Laguna showed no signs of fatigue, rallying to win its second tournament of the year at Cate School later that week. After a 2-1 record in pool play and a 2-1 win over Crossroads Christian in the semifinals, the girls entered the tournament finals against former Condor League rival and tournament host Cate. The Owls vanquished the Rams in the one-game final 25-15 to take home the tournament championship and a huge rivalry victory.
The girls weren’t done there though. After extremely lopsided victories over every team in their league en route to a 15th straight Condor League Title, the Owls traveled to Carpinteria to face the Rams once more, this time in a full match. Laguna came out strong against an inspired Cate team who played their “best match of the season” coach Greg Novak said, and pulled out a four-set victory culminating in a 28-26 finish to prevent a fifth game.
“We have a very talented team, but we are working on the mental aspect of our game. The Cate game really showed a lot of improvement in that regard and helped restore our confidence” Madsen said.
The Owls will take this momentum into the CIF-SS playoffs, a gauntlet that head coach Jason Donnelly is very familiar with, having made several trips to the finals including a championship run in 2006 in his first tenure. Senior captains Emily Lafitte, Danielle Abrams and Phoebe Madsen are also no strangers to the CIF stage, making their own runs to the semis as freshmen and finals as sophomores.
“We are learning how to work hard as a team and that is something we will need going into CIF. We need to use this momentum and continue to improve everyday.”