If the Palisades High girls’ tennis team is to avenge last year’s semifinal playoff loss to Granada Hills, it will have to wait until the championship match. That’s just fine for Coach Passan and the Dolphins, who were awarded the No. 2 seed in the City Section’s upper division draw. In fact, if Palisades advances to the final, Passan hopes the Highlanders are the team on the other side of the net. “You always want to measure yourself against the best,” Passan said before the seedings came out Monday. “Granada’s been the team to beat and I’m sure they’re going to be the favorites again. However, we’re stronger than we were last year so I hope we get another crack at them.” Granada Hills, the defending champion, was seeded No. 1 in the 12-team bracket and could potentially face fourth-seeded Marshall, the Northern League champion, in the semifinals. Barring an upset, Western League champion Palisades, on the other hand, would meet third-seeded El Camino Real, which finished runner-up to Granada Hills in the West Valley League, in the semifinals. The top four seeds get byes in the first round, so Palisades will first play the winner of today’s match between No. 7 Eagle Rock and No. 10 Taft at 1 p.m. next Tuesday. Passan said the Dolphins might have to travel because there too few courts available to host a playoff match at the Palisades Tennis Center. If victorious, the Dolphins would host the semifinals next Friday at noon. The City finals are November 17 at Balboa Sports Center in Encino. Volleyball The Palisades High girls’ varsity volleyball team was seeded third out of 24 teams in the City Section Division II playoffs and received a bye in today’s first round. The Dolphins, who finished second in the Western League behind Venice, will host either No. 19 Contreras or No. 14 King-Drew in the second round next Monday, November 8, at 7 p.m. If victorious, Palisades would host a quarterfinal match next Wednesday at 7 p.m., possibly against sixth-seeded Eagle Rock. The semifinals are Tuesday, November 16, and the City Division II final is at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 20, at Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles. Despite finishing second in the West Valley League to Granada Hills, defending champion Woodland Hills Taft was awarded the No. 1 seed over Venice. Should seedings hold, Venice and Palisades would meet for a third time in the semifinals. Sun Valley Poly was seeded fourth and would travel to Taft in the semifinals. “I fought hard to get us the No. 1 seed, which would’ve meant that us and Palisades would be on opposite sides of the draw,” said Venice Coach Allen Hunt, who represented the Western League at Tuesday night’s seeding meeting. “You never want to play the same team three times. Plus, I know how good Palisades can be when at full strength.” Just as Palisades Coach Chris Forrest predicted, Granada Hills was the consensus No. 1 out of 16 teams in the Division I draw. The Highlanders went unbeaten and unchallenged against City opponents this fall. Marine League winner Carson was given the No. 2 seed, followed by Valley Mission League champion Sylmar and Marine League runner-up Harbor City Narbonne. The Division I championship will follow the Division II final on November 20 at Roybal Learning Center.
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