By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
During a timeout early in the fifth and deciding set of last Friday’s nonleague match against El Camino Real, Palisades High girls volleyball head coach Carlos Gray had a strong message for his team: “This is our house and we’re not losing!”
Photo: Steve Galluzzo
Players took those words to heart, rallying from several four-point deficits to prevail, 25-19, 17-25, 25-19, 28-30, 16-14, to stun the reigning City Section Division I champion Conquistadores.
“Hearing coach say that in the huddle sort of calmed our nerves and made us realize we’re on our home floor and we can’t let them beat us,” opposite hitter Emma Sims said. “We were down, but we agreed if we’re going to lose, it’s not going to be because of stupid errors.”
The Dolphins trailed 5-1 and 6-2 in th fifth, but cleaned up their game just in time to rally from 13-10 down to avenge their five-set defeat in the semifinals last year.
The score was 14-14 when a controversial call went Palisades’ way. Keely McMahon served a clean ace, but the Conquistadores vehemently protested, believing that the ball landed beyond the baseline. The two referees quickly conferred and upheld the call, puting the Dolphins at match point. They ended it with a block on the next rally, setting off a wild celebration.
Gray shook his head while shaking hands with El Camino Real Coach Alyssa Lee afterwards, sympathizing that it was a tough way for either team to lose.
“It happened at such a crucial moment and the linesperson wasn’t even looking,” Lee said. “That said, you have to live with it. There are a lot of points, we’re a young team and we’ve had trouble closing out matches. All credit to Palisades. I’m sure we’ll meet again down the road, probably before the finals. Our hope is to beat [West Valley League rival] Granada Hills to mess up the seeding.”
After the Dolphins reeled off three straight points to draw even at 13-13, Kashauna Williams’ croscourt spike brought the Conquistadores within one point of triumph, but she served into the net on the next point.
Sims hit off a block to save a set point at 26-25 in the fourth and McMahon’s ace gave the Dolphins a 28-27 lead before El Camino Real responded with three straight points to level the match.
Sims, Angelina Burton, Alex Laita and Angel Echipue paced the Dolphins’ attack.
“This is huge for us after what happened last year,” Sims said. “Now we have to build off it.”
Three days earlier Palisades survived a scare at Brentwood, being pushed to the limit before rallying for a 29-27, 19-25, 24-26, 26-24, 15-7 victory.
“No one played well,” Gray said, candidly. “In fact, we played about as bad as we can play, but somehow we found a way to win.”
Palisades opened Western League play with a 25-9, 25-20, 25-14 sweep at Venice–the Dolphins’ 14th straight victory overtheir archrivals dating back to 2010.
On Monday, Palisades made short work of visiting Hamilton, 25-5, 25-10, 25-12.
The Dolphins travel to University today and host Fairfax on Monday.
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