Onward and Upward

Dolphins Turn Tables on San Pedro, Advance to Section Volleyball Finals

Last November, San Pedro ended the Dolphins’ season. On Tuesday night, Palisades returned the favor. Playing perhaps its best match yet, the Palisades High girls varsity team swept the visiting Pirates, 25-20, 25-15, 25-19, in a reversal of last season’s City Section semifinal. “They beat us in three at their place last year so it was our turn,” Pali senior Teal Johnson said. “I felt for the first time today that we put everything together and we’re playing our best.” Top-seeded Palisades, seeking its 24th City title, advanced to Saturday’s championship match at Occidental College in Eagle Rock. The final is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Even Palisades Coach Chris Forrest was impressed. “This was one of our prettier wins,” Forrest said. “We took them out of their game. I figured if we could disrupt their passing we’d be effective and that proved to be the case.” Fourth-seeded San Pedro (22-10) pulled to within 19-18 in the first game, but Alex Lunder and Kelsey Kiel combined to stuff block Pirates’ hitter Shannon Miller and Lunder closed out the game six points later with a crosscourt kill. “Alex played an incredible match,” Forrest said. “She hit over .650 and didn’t make an error.” San Pedro led 19-18 in Game 3 before Laura Goldsmith tied it with a kill. Goldsmith ended the match with a pair of aces, propelling Palisades to its first final since 2003. “We really wanted this match,” Lunder said. “We played Pedro at the beginning of the year and won. They are a lot better now, but we are too.” It was an abrupt end to a magical run for San Pedro, which had advanced to the finals each of the previous three seasons. “I think experience and the home court advantage were huge factors,” San Pedro Coach Sam Tejada said. “Last year, we were more experienced and we were at home. This year, we’re a young team and they took advantage of our mistakes.” The Dolphins (23-8) had to wait a day to find out who they would face across the net Saturday night because the other semifinal, between No. 2 Venice and No. 3 Taft, was moved to Wednesday. Venice ultimately prevailed in five games. “Venice and Taft are both very good teams,” Lunder said. “To win, we’ll have to play as good as we did tonight.” Palisades beat the Gondos in the finals of their own tournament, then the teams split two Western League matches–each winning on the opponents’ home floor. The Dolphins did not play Taft this season. “I don’t want to play Venice,” Forrest said. “I have a lot of respect for both teams. Both have good coaches. I just think we have more weapons against Taft than Venice.”