Laguna takes on Sea Kings in tourney

Once again, the Laguna Beach High boys’ volleyball team will be one of the familiar squads to compete at the Orange County Championships.

One of the southland’s premier boys’ volleyball tournaments, the event begins today with opening-round action at four area high school gymnasiums. Edison and Marina will play host to the first two days of the Division I competition, and Newport Harbor and Estancia are the sites of the Division II action.

Laguna will compete in the Division I side of the tournament, and takes on Pacific Coast League rival Corona del Mar today at 4 p.m. at Edison.

The Breakers are seeded fourth in their pool. Corona del Mar is the No. 2 seed in the same pool.

The championship finals in each division will be played Monday at Edison.

Each division features 16 teams broken down into four pools each consisting of four teams. Matches begin at 3 p.m. Friday.

The top two teams in each pool advance to compete in the Gold Division, and the bottom two teams in each pool go on to play in the Silver Division.

“There are a lot of good teams competing in this tournament,” Laguna coach Lance Stewart said. “We’re getting better. I don’t know if we can make a run at the title, but I do know that we are playing better right now.”