Laguna teams fare well at qualifying tournament

In an event that drew water polo club teams from throughout Orange County and Riverside counties, Laguna Beach Water Polo Club placed four teams in the top 10 in their respective divisions at the USA Water Polo National Junior Olympics qualifying tournament (Southern Pacific Area).

The girls’ 14-and-Under team led the way by capturing first place in its division. The girls’ 12U team was second in its division. The boys’ 12U team finished fourth and the 10U team took seventh place.

The Southern Pacific Area zone had 87 teams competing in five divisions at various pool sites in Orange County. The qualifying tournament started June 1 and continued through Sunday.

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Girls’ 14U Division

Laguna Beach entered the tournament ranked No. 1, and lived up to that billing by winning in Irvine.

After receiving a first-round bye, Laguna opened with a 16-2 victory Saturday over C.D.M. (Corona del Mar/Newport Beach). That moved the locals on to a semifinal match against SET (Lake Forest). Laguna trailed by as much as two goals during the game, but was able to come away with a 9-8 victory to move on to the final.

In the title game Sunday, Laguna squared off against SoCal (Tustin) and posted an 8-4 victory, which gave the team its seventh tournament title this year.

Laguna will take a No. 2-seed into the Junior Olympics tournament in August at Stanford University.

The 14U team is: Bella Baldridge, Angelique Begay, Maia Borisoff, Gabi Beran, Katya Cox-Kruger, Haley Evans, Aria Fischer, Ally Jochim, Sophia Lucas, Holly Parker, Natalie Selin, and Thea Walsh.

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12U Division

Laguna Beach won its first three tournament games and went on to take the Silver medal.

Laguna played its first three games Saturday at Segerstrom High in Santa Ana on Saturday. Laguna scored a 16-2 win over Alliance (Capistrano Valley) in its opener, then followed up with another comfortable win, 17-4, over SET. Laguna continued to breeze through to the final by taking down International (Los Alamitos), 15-5, in a semifinal match.

In Sunday’s final, Laguna took on SoCal at Mission Viejo High. Laguna fell behind early and lost, 16-7.

Laguna will be the division’s No. 6-seed at the Junior Olympics tournament in August.

The 12U team is: Angelique Begay, Danielle Borelli, Evie Cant, Audrey Duffy, Alana Evans, Sophia Lucas, Neva Razin, Isabel Riches, Evan Tingler, and Thea Walsh.