Last year, the Palisades High girls volleyball team proved they could win a City championship. This season, the Dolphins (6-7) are still figuring things out and adjusting to departures from last year’s squad’but that hasn’t slowed them down thus far. On Monday, Pali faced perhaps their toughest Western League competitor in Venice and defeated the Gondoliers, 25-10, 25-8, 25-19. Though the straight set win was fairly comfortable, head coach Chris Forrest made it clear his team is still learning. ’We’ve been kind of up and down,’ Forrest said. ‘One set, we’ll play great; the next, we’ll be a little uneven. We just need to keep playing together more. ‘ The girls seem a bit tired because school just started and they went from being on summer right into playing volleyball and studying until 11 p.m. ’Once they get adjusted, I think we’ll start to get it together. Right now, though, it’s been a little bit of a roller coaster. I can’t wait for everything to get squared away.’ The Dolphins faced little resistance from Venice in the opening two sets, but in the third, the Gondoliers made things interesting. With a dozen or so enthusiastic parents behind them, Venice jumped out to an early 6-5 lead to gain momentum early. Pali answered with an amazing point where Katie Kaufman, Caroline Grande and Meghan Middleton all lunged onto the gym floor to keep the ball in play to save the point and earn the Dolphins back the lead, 7-6. The two sides proceeded to exchange points, before junior captain Molly Kornfeind delivered a forceful kill from the left side to give Pali the lead, 17-16. Two delicate dunks from Middleton and Brittany Butts pushed the Dolphins’ lead to 21-17, before strong serving from Christina Noel helped close out the final set, 25-19. Kornfeind led the way with 14 kills, while Middleton (who normally roams the middle as a setter) contributed six kills after Forrest elected to play her outside. All and all, it was a strong performance from the Dolphins, especially considering they are still figuring out their primary rotation. Forrest noted that the team had used multiple looks at libero and middle blocker; against Venice, Maddie Hausberg stepped in and libero and performed well, as did freshman Kathryn Clark at middle. Last week, Pali competed at the La Jolla Beach City Invitational and went 3-3 overall, beating Olympian (Chula Vista) and Dimond (Anchorage, Alaska) on Friday and defeating Valhalla (El Cajon) on Saturday. No matter the early returns for the Dolphins, the expectations to defend last season’s City title are still there. ’I expect us to play for the City championship,’ Forrest said. ‘If we weren’t in the City final, I’d consider that a shocker. Venice, along with Taft and Van Nuys, is probably our top competition. ’Last year was their first time being in the Finals. Hopefully, they’ll feel even more comfortable in that situation [this season]. And I’m confident they’ll shine bright.’ Pali played at Hamilton yesterday (after the Palisadian-Post went to press) and host University on Monday at 4 p.m.
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