Palos Verdes High School sisters Molly LaBreche, left, and Mallory LaBreche won the CIF-SS girls beach volleyball pairs championship on Wednesday, May 1. Coach Patrick Lynch was with them after the win. (Courtesy of Palos Verdes Volleyball)
Daily Breeze All Area Women's Beach Volleyball
Pair of the Year
Mallory and Molly LaBreche, Palos Verdes
Twin sisters Mallory and Molly have helped the Palos Verdes girls volleyball team reach the CIF State Tournament finals over the past two seasons.
In the fall, both were named Daily Breeze All-Area selections.
Last season, in the first official CIF-SS beach season, the sisters again earned all-area honors, albeit on different pairings.
This season, they started with different teammates throughout the regular season.
“We separated them, but they were so good that we had to put them together with other players and it strengthened our program,” PV Beach coach Patrick Lynch said.
At the Bay League Championships, the sisters teamed up to win the league title.
Their winning streak didn't end there. The sisters then won the second official CIF Southern Section Pairs Championship, winning their semifinal and final matches in three sets, defeating JSerra's Sarah Moynihan and Emma Champagne in the semifinals and Mira Costa's Giselle and Savannah Lau in the final.
On the indoor courts, Mallory was PV's setter and Molly was the libero.
“Mallory runs the offense and Molly runs the defense,” Lynch said. “She's one of the best serve-receiving passers I've ever coached and Mallory makes great decisions in her settings.”
After trying out several sports, the sisters started playing volleyball when they were 10 years old.
“Once we started playing, it was so much fun,” Mallory said.
The sisters have one more year of high school and then they'll go on to college: Mallory to UCLA to play on the beach, and Molly to LSU.
“I think they're just getting started in the Beach system,” Lynch said. “They have the ability to get to the next level and I expect them to excel in college.”
Coach of the Year
Luke Kuzmarczyk, West Torrance
The Warriors were one of several South Bay teams that made impressive strides in the second year since beach volleyball became an official CIF-SS sport.
The Warriors went 3-7 in their first season. This season, West went 8-2, won the Pioneer League title and advanced to the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs.
All Area Team
First team
Giselle Lau, Savannah Lau and Mira Costa
Taylor Deckert, Olga Nikolaeva, and Mila Costa
Kate Morley, Simone Roslon and Mira Costa
Maddie Collins and Victoria Henkel, Redondo
Gigi Gallegos and Kenzie Miller, Redondo
Second Team
Macy Ludwig and Landyn Leitch, El Segundo
Emerson Turner and Maria Mercierca, West Torrance
Riley Owens and Sarah Schacht, South Torrance
Kiana Greer and Natalia Morales, Torrance
Ava Hassanein and Talia Lindahl, Palos Verdes
