It was survival of the fittest Saturday at UC Santa Barnara, where the Palisades High boys volleyball squad was one of 30 teams competing in the Dos Pueblos Invitational.
With several starters missing, head coach Carlos Gray set a realistic goal: advance to the Gold Division.
The Dolphins got off to a good start, winning the first set against Alemany 27-25. However, they let a 17-14 lead slip away and lost the second set 26-24 to settle for a split.
Photo: Steve Galluzzo
Palisades swept its next two pool play matches, beating Saugus 25-15, 25-18 and Oxnard 25-17, 25-17, but got swept by Laguna Beach, 25-19, 25-16 to wind up third.
When all of the results were tallied, however, the Dolphins made the Gold Division after finishing with the best winning percentage among third-place teams. They found themselves facing Laguna Beach again and despite pushing the Breakers all the way, the Dolphins lost 25-22, 25-22.
“Justin [Howard] is injured, Scott [Stuart] isn’t 100 percent and we have a JV playing middle but I’m not making excuses,” Gray said. “I would’ve preferred to play a different team, but I think we showed a lot of character the second time. They thought they’d roll through us.”
In his 16 years coaching at the varsity level, Gray never saw a team win a set 25-0 – until last Wednesday’s match against Hamilton. Marcus Partain served the first 16 points and Riley Byington subbed in to serve the last nine.
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