Laguna Beach girls' water polo dominant in CIF Division 1 opener

Elsie Huston and Maeve Mani combine for seven goals to lead the host Breakers over Sunny Hills 14-8 on Friday.

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

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Laguna Beach's girls' water polo team looked every bit the part of a defending champion on Friday, the Breakers comfortably dispatching the opposition in their playoff opener. Maeve Mani supplied a hat trick and five assists, as Laguna Beach rolled past Sunny Hills 14-8 in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 first-round game at El Toro High.

Why it matters

Laguna Beach, the reigning Division 1 champion, has two returning starters from last year's team and went undefeated in the Pacific Coast League. The Breakers are looking to defend their title and prove they are still the team to beat in Division 1.

The details

Junior Elsie Huston, the Breakers' tallest player at 6 feet, had a team-leading four goals, but her presence was equally problematic for the Lancers on the other end. Huston affected shots close to the goal, forcing a couple over the crossbar. At other times, she denied entry into the 2-meter area at all. Senior Brooke Schneider also made her impact felt defensively, supplying four steals in addition to her two goals.

  • The Laguna Beach Unified School District board of education approved construction contracts for a new pool last month.
  • Laguna Beach played both of last season's CIF home games at El Toro High in Lake Forest.
  • Laguna Beach will host second-seeded Foothill (18-11) at Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The players

Maeve Mani

A sophomore southpaw who dissected the defense with her vision, finding teammates in transition, with cross-cage passing, and factoring into a total of eight goals for Laguna Beach.

Elsie Huston

Laguna Beach's tallest player at 6 feet, who had a team-leading four goals and affected shots close to the goal, forcing a couple over the crossbar and denying entry into the 2-meter area.

Brooke Schneider

A senior who made her impact felt defensively, supplying four steals in addition to her two goals.

Katie Teets

Laguna Beach's third-year coach, who said her team raised its level leading up to the playoffs.

Hailey Yoo

A senior who had four goals to lead Sunny Hills.

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What they’re saying

“I used to not be able to have that good of awareness, and I've been working on it a lot. I'm really proud of being able to see my teammates more, making more risky passes, and being able to get goals and making something from that.”

— Maeve Mani

“A lot of our defense is just our trust in our team. That comes from me and the goalie, trusting that I'm not allowing center to be open, and then our field players, they're pressing. They know that center's not going to be open, so they can just go out and press. It's really just awareness and trusting each other.”

— Elsie Huston

“I think there was a big spark, and kind of an increase of intensity, in this last week of practice, and then it spilled over into this game, too. I don't know if it's just the playoff, I guess, shift in mentality, but we're executing. Even when we were making mistakes, we were executing things better than we have been.”

— Katie Teets, Coach

What’s next

Laguna Beach will host second-seeded Foothill (18-11) at Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The takeaway

Laguna Beach's girls' water polo team is poised to defend its Division 1 championship, with a balanced attack and stifling defense leading the way. The Breakers' playoff run will continue as they host a tough Foothill squad in the next round.