Dolphins Make Gold Division at Redondo Volleyball Classic

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

To be the best you have to beat the best. That is why Palisades High girls volleyball coaches Duustyn Woropay and Carlos Gray entered their team in the Redondo Power Classic last weekend.

The Dolphins were amongst a loaded field which included several of the best teams in Southern California and it was just the test they needed heading into the final week of the regular season, which began with Tuesday’s nonleague match at Eagle Rock, a team that beat the Dolphins, 25-21, 25-22, in pool play at the Chatsworth Invitational back in August.

The defending City champion Dolphins began the tournament on Friday by sweeping Thousand Oaks, 25-16, 25-12, 25-16, but were swept later that day by host and eventual champion Redondo Union, 25-10, 25-18, 25-13. Still, Palisades advanced to the Gold Division draw reserved for the top 16 schools.

On Saturday morning, Long Beach Poly dealt the Dolphins a 25-17, 25-15 loss, dropping them to the consolation bracket. In their quarterfinal match the Dolphins beat Buena from Ventura, 25-23, 25-18, but they were eliminated in the next round by South Torrance.

Palisades qualified for the top division in all four tournaments it played this season, winning the Venice Invitational in mid-September and making the semifinals of the Falcon Classic at Crescenta Valley two weeks later.

Heading into Tuesday’s match the Dolphins had won 17 straight against City opponents since their nonleague sweep at the hands of Taft on Sept. 6 in Woodland Hills.

Palisades hosts archrival Venice today and wraps up Western League play Monday at Hamilton.     

Redondo Union, ranked No. 5 in the state and 10th in the nation by MaxPreps, swept Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, 25-11, 25-23, in Saturday’s final.

Palisades is on track to secure a berth in the City’s eight-team Open Division playoffs. The Dolphins upset top-seeded Granada Hills in five sets in the semifinals and ousted Taft in four sets in the final at Birmingham High last fall.

Also making the Redondo Gold Division were Palos Verdes, Notre Dame Academy, Lakewood, Scripps Ranch, Clovis West, Archer Academy, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, St. Lucy’s and Marlborough.