The intensity level goes up a few notches whenever Palisades High plays Western League rival Venice in volleyball and Monday’s meeting was no exception.
After taking the first set handily the Dolphins let the second slip away and had to regroup to prevent the host Gondoliers from seizing the momentum for good.
Palisades opened a 19-13 lead in the pivotal third set and the teams traded points the rest of the way, with the Dolphins winning to move within one set of victory. They raced to a 7-0 lead in the fourth, took a 19-9 lead on Isabel Kelly‘s uncontested kill and went on to close out a 25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17 victory and stay undefeated in the Western League.
“What’s more important than winning is how we play and we have things we need to fix,” Coach Carlos Gray said.
Palisades hosts Hamilton today in a league match.
“Sometimes when we get into a pressure situation we don’t take it well,” setter Delaney Arth said. “We kind of let up and thought ‘Oh, we have this’ and let outside factors get to us. This is a confidence booster in that we know we can take control of a match.”
Last weekend, the Dolphins played in the Beach City Invitational in La Jolla, going 3-3 in the Silver Division.
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