Palisadians Reach NCAA Volleyball Final

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Pacific Palisades was well represented at Saturday’s NCAA Division I women’s volleyball final in Columbus, Ohio, where eighth-ranked Stanford beat fourth-ranked Texas, 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21.

Thanks in part to four starting freshmen, the Cardinal became the youngest team ever to play for the national championship and among the true freshmen on the roster were Michaela Keefe (an outside hitter) and twin sister Caitlin Keefe (a defensive specialist), who grew up in the Palisades and played for Palisadian Cari Klein at Marymount High.

On the other side of the net was Palisades High graduate Jerritt Elliott, in his 16th season coaching the Longhorns. He was teammates at Pali High with 1996 Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Kent Steffes and coached the Dolphins’ girls squad to the City title in 1991.