By Steve Breazeale
For in-game updates, scores, news and more for all of the Dana Hills High School fall sports programs follow us on Twitter @SouthOCsports.
Cross Country Teams in Invitational Mode
The Dana Hills boys and girls cross country teams began their season with an appearance at the Laguna Hills Invitational on Sept. 13. They boys team finished 14th overall in Division 1 while the girls placed 12th.
There were also several standout performances.
The Dolphins sophomore group piled four of their runners inside the top-10 to earn a first-place finish. The juniors placed third and were led by Mason Coppi, whose time of 15:55 was tied for the 14th overall fastest time at the meet.
The girls junior team had two runners inside the top-10, which sealed a second-place finish. Sophomore Kathryn Kaloroumakis posted the fourth fastest time at the meet, looping the course in 18:41. The senior team finished third in their race.
The Dolphins will now play host to the 41st annual Dana Hills Nike Invitational on Sept. 27.
Dolphins Water Polo Readies for League Title Defense
Dana Hills boys water polo head coach Matt Rosa made sure the 2014 version of his team would continue to play a tough nonleague schedule, despite returning only three impact starters from last year.
That has made for an up and down month of September, as the Dolphins currently own a 2-5 overall record. Dana Hills, which is set to open league play with a match against El Toro on Sept. 30, most recently lost 21-4 to Harvard Westlake, the No. 1 ranked team in the CIF-SS Division 1 coaches’ poll.
A match against Northwood will serve as the final nonleague primer for Dana Hills before they start South Coast League play. The defending league champion Dolphins were set to play Northwood at Santa Margarita High School on Sept. 25. Results were not available at press time.
Back to back games against Tesoro on Oct. 2 and Oct. 7 will follow the Dolphins game against the Chargers.
The Dolphins have been placed in Division 2, along with the rest of the South Coast League, this season. But Rosa wanted his young team to still compete at the Division 1 level throughout the year.
“There’s new faces on varsity. We’ve got some good pieces and pieces that are learning. We’re definitely more inexperienced than we’ve been. We’ve had some growing pains,” Rosa said.
Dolphins Football Picks up Win by Forfeit, Preps for Garden Grove
The Dana Hills football team picked up their first win of the season after Villa Park was forced to forfeit its win over the Dolphins on Sept. 18 following the use of an ineligible player, according to Dana Hills head coach Todd Rusinkovich.
The Spartans defeated the Dolphins 25-10 last week. The news of the ineligible player and the subsequent forfeit came on Sept. 19.
Dana Hills will host Garden Grove out of the Garden Grove League on Sept. 26.
The Dolphins (1-3) have played a tough nonleague schedule. Three of their last four opponents are currently ranked inside the top-6 of the CIF-SS Southwest Division polls and all four boast a cumulative record of 13-2.
The game against Garden Grove (2-1) will continue the Dolphins trend of playing highly ranked opponents, as the Argonauts come into the match ranked No. 1 in the CIF-SS Southern Division rankings.
The Argonauts are led by senior quarterback Josh Green and a versatile running attack. In their first two games, Garden Grove had four different backs with at least 13 carries. Sophomore running back Jordan Antunez appears to get the lion’s share of the carries.
Girls Volleyball Falls to Lions
The Dana Hills girls volleyball team lost its third consecutive nonleague game on Sept. 23 following a 3-1 loss to JSerra at home. The Dolphins (3-7) lost the first two sets, 25-20, 25-22, before taking the third, 25-21. The Lions closed out the win with a 25-15 fourth-set victory.
After defeating Orange Lutheran for their signature win of the early season on Sept. 13, the Dolphins have lost to Santa Margarita, Huntington Beach and the Lions, respectively.
The team’s tough nonleague schedule will continue with a home match against Laguna Beach set for Sept. 30.
Junior outside hitter Ayla Fresenius has been pacing the team on offense, collecting 25 and 19 kills against Huntington Beach and JSerra, respectively.
Following the match with the Breakers, the Dolphins will open South Coast League play against Tesoro on Oct. 2.
Dolphins Golf Edged by Tritons
In their South Coast League opening match against San Clemente, the Dana Hills girls golf team fell to the Tritons 215-227 at El Niguel Country Club on Sept. 23.
San Clemente was led by senior Alex Cooper, who shot a 36 (E) on the front nine at the Dolphins home course. Dana Hills senior Tori Hummel matched Cooper with a score of 36.
The collective 227 shot by the Dolphins (6-1, 0-1 league) was their highest total of the season.
Dana Hills will play consecutive matches against San Juan Hills on Oct. 7 and Oct. 9.
Girls Tennis Remains Unbeaten
The Dana Hills girls tennis team extended their season-long win streak to four games with an 11-7 league win over Aliso Niguel on Sept. 24.
The Dolphins doubles group swept all nine of their sets to ensure the victory.
Discussion about this post