Marina girls’ volleyball clinches playoff berth with win over Laguna Beach

Marina came up with big plays in pivotal moments, a lot of them by its freshman sensation, to sweep its way into the CIF Southern Section girls’ volleyball playoffs.

The Vikings claimed the Wave League’s second guaranteed postseason berth Thursday night, a stunning 25-23, 25-23, 30-28 triumph over Laguna Beach in a playoff at Huntington Beach High, their second triumph over the Breakers in eight days.

It was anything but a romp. Marina took leads in all three sets, a couple of them substantial, and Laguna Beach (7-21) rallied each time. The Vikings survived four set points in the third set.

“That’s the thing about volleyball,” Marina head coach Ryan Parker said. “You can have a sweep be very competitive, and it doesn’t look like it when you look only at the [3-0 scoreline]. Every set was very competitive, and it very easily could have gone five [sets].

“I didn’t come in saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to sweep them, win in three,’ but it’s nice to do it, get a little confidence boost.”

The victory was the third in a row for Marina (17-12) — starting with last week’s five-set home win over the Breakers to force the playoff — after a 1-6 spell in Surf League crossover play, against Wave League champion Corona del Mar, and in a loss three weeks ago at Laguna Beach that went the distance. Now the aim is to make a Division 3 run similar to last year’s in Division 5, in which they reached the final after finishing third in the Wave League standings.

“All you have to do is win one game at a time, and anyone can win one game,” Parker said. “There’s definitely some teams [atop] the rankings that are tough, but I believe that we’re in the mix for contenders, at least.”

Outside hitter Korynn Mayo, a 6-foot freshman, was dominant for the Vikings, putting away 23 kills (on a .386 hitting percentage), with an ace and team-best 13 digs. She had kills for Marina’s last four points in the first set, which was tied nine times from 14-all; three of the last four in the second set, including the winner after the Breakers turned a nine-point deficit into a one-point fight; and seven down the stretch in the third game, six for side outs, as Laguna Beach rallied from five down to take four late leads.

“She’s our monster freshman, our 14-year-old phenom ...,” Parker said. “Something we’ve been very vocal with her about is confidence late in games. We know if we check [her] a high ball, we expect the outcome to be a kill. She’s one of the toughest on herself of any player I’ve ever coached. Good enough isn’t, in her mind, but she’s starting to embrace [the message].”

The Vikings got strong play in the middle, from senior Lyndsey Wessel (eight kills on nine attempts, three blocks) and sophomore Addison Brown (seven kills), and served up 10 aces, three by freshman Brooklyn Enriquez in the third set. Senior outside hitter Jenna Zaffino added eight kills.

Laguna Beach, which will miss the postseason for the second successive season, was without star junior Kyra Zaengle, a USC beach volleyball commit who is playing at the AVP Laguna Beach Open this weekend. Seniors Meg Gardner (eight kills) and Sara Johnson (six kills, four aces, one block) led the Breakers, who had won the first nine meetings (with a 25-5 advantage in sets) with Marina since joining the Sunset Conference in 2018.

“In a way, we miss [Zaengle] a lot, but everyone stepped up, everyone did a little extra to cover for her,” Laguna Beach head coach Sinan Tanik said. “We see that it was a close game. It could have gone either way, all three sets.”