Short-handed Breakers Win Volleyball Regional Opener

Most boys volleyball teams forced to to play without their top hitter and setter would probably have a problem finding a way to win in an arena such as the CIF Southern California Division 3 Regional Championships.

Laguna Beach is not such a team.

Even when shorthanded, the top-seeded Breakers are still among the most dangerous teams in Southern California, as they proved Tuesday night at Laguna Beach High in a 25-14, 25-22, 25-19 win over No. 8-seed Vistamar of El Segundo.

The Breakers (21-11) advance to the semifinals, which they will play at 7 p.m. Thursday at home against fourth-seeded Cerritos Valley Christian, which won its first-round game Tuesday over Santa Fe Christian, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22.

Laguna Beach played without opposite hitter Robbie McKnight, who has committed to USC but is fighting through a left knee injury, and setter Jack Winn, who was out with a strep throat.

“It’s too early to tell with either of them,” Breakers coach Lance Stewart said of their immediate futures. “Robbie had an MRI [Tuesday]; he’ll meet with the doctors [Wednesday]. Jack is on antibiotics.”

Among several who stepped up in a big way were senior setter Alex Bekken and senior Colin Ceithaml, who moved from middle blocker to right-side outside hitter and smashed 11 kills.  Alex Burk, a senior who was second in kills on the team, also put away 11, and junior Austin Hilemann, third on the team in kills, added nine.

“We had players out of position,” Stewart said. “Colin went to the right, he normally plays in the middle. Alex did a good job getting us hittable balls.”

Stewart spoke with caution about the match against Valley Christian (18-2), the Southern Section Division 3 champion after a 27-25, 25-27, 25-17, 25-16 victory over Burbank Burroughs on Saturday. Laguna Beach lost to Corona del Mar in the Divison 2 championship.

“Valley Christian is very good,” Stewart said. “They’re very capable of beating us, and beating us good.”

Laguna Beach went on a 17-8 run to finish off the first game.

The Vikings (20-4) came back with plenty of heart in the second game, especially considering they were a Division 5 team taking on a Division 2 squad in Laguna Beach. They fought back,  taking a 15-13  after two aces by Evan Simon that forced a timeout by Stewart. The Breakers' new lineup led to a few balls landing unchallenged that normally are hit back.

“We didn’t play good defense,” Stewart said. “We had some equal distribution. We had some kills on the left, kills on the right. That’s what you want to see.”

It was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way, with Hilemann putting down a hammering kill to tie the score at 20. Ceithaml put away another howitzer-like kill to help the Breakers take a 21-20 lead it did not lose. Hilemann’s tip-kill set up game point, and a hard hit by Burk secured the 2-0 lead.

“They gave us a tough time out there,” Stewart said of Vistamar. “They weren’t intimidated by us at all. They gave it all they had.”

The third game was nearly uneventful, with Laguna Beach taking a 20-13 lead and having little trouble putting away the match. Ethan Morris’ kill on match point sealed the deal.

“I thought we played fine,” Burk said. “I felt Colin did well playing opposite because he normally plays in the middle. I thought Alex played great.”

Vistamar senior outside hitter Evan Simon led with 12 kills and kept his team right in the match. He said he will try out for a club team at UC Berkeley, where he will enroll this fall.

“We came into this match expecting to have a tough fight,” Simon said. “We played like we had nothing to lose, which we didn’t.”