Perhaps having two days to stew over its shocking three-game sweep at the hands of Fairfax was just what the Palisades High boys’ volleyball team needed heading into Saturday’s Dos Pueblos Invitational in Santa Barbara. The Dolphins played some of their best volleyball of the season at the day-long tournament, reaching the semifinals of the Bronze Division before fatigue finally took its toll in a 25-13, 27-25 loss to Granada Hills. “I wasn’t looking for us to win, I was looking for us to improve and we did that,” Palisades Coach Chris Forrest said. “We played some very good teams and we were competitive in every match. Granada [Hills] had two hours to rest before our match while we had just played three tough games so if we play them again I think we’ll do better.” Palisades and Granada Hills each finished third in its pool and advanced to the single-elimination playoff round. The other two City Section teams–El Camino Real and Chatsworth–failed to advance out of pool play. The Dolphins’ first match was against tournament host Dos Pueblos, which won both games. Palisades split 1-1 with Notre Dame, swept Rio Mesa 2-0 and split 1-1 with San Luis Obispo. In the quarterfinals, Palisades faced a tall, athletic Righetti squad and prevailed 28-26, 13-25, 21-19–setting the stage for a rematch of last year’s City semifinals. This time, the Dolphins were missing All-City hitter Kene Izuchukwu (who is out with a shoulder injury) and the Highlanders took advantage. Izuchukwu also did not play against Fairfax and his offense was sorely missed. Matt Hanley and Jordan Cohen tried to rally the Dolphins in the third game, but the host Lions finally clinched the upset victory on their fifth match point and took over sole possession of first place in the Western League. Palisades got back on track by sweeping Westchester 25-13, 25-16, 25-16 on Monday. This weekend, the Dolphins travel to San Diego for the La Jolla Classic–their third and last tournament of the season. “That’s where our team grew the most last year,” Forrest said. “I’m hoping the same thing happens this year.”

For perhaps the only time this season the Palisades High girls’ varsity swim team was not the favorite heading into last week’s John Marrow Invitational. Instead it was one of 13 teams trying to dethrone reigning champion La Canada at the three-day meet in Beverly Hills. The reigning City champions didn’t win–that honor went to Palos Verdes–but they did their section proud by finishing fifth against the best competition they will face all year. “I’m extremely proud of everyone,” Coach Maggie Nance said. “All of our teams did very well. The big surprise was the frosh/soph girls finishing first. That was huge.” Palisades led the frosh/soph girls meet by three points heading into the final event and clinched the title with a resounding victory in the 400 freestyle relay. Freshmen Mara Silka and Tatiana Fields joined sophomores Zoe Fullerton and Hannah Kogan to complete the race in 4:00.67 and beat Mira Costa. Kogan won the 100 freestyle in 57.81 and the 50 butterfly in 28.88 while Fullerton won the 100 individual medley. Palisades’ 200 medley relay team, consisting of Rachel Jaffe, Sabrina Giglio, Fullerton and Kogan got the Dolphins off to a strong start, finishing second to league rival Venice. “All of the girls–both frosh/soph and varsity–swam better tonight than they did in qualifying,” Nance said. “Ideally, that’s what you want to see.” Junior Shelby Pascoe was fourth in the varsity girls’ 500 freestyle and Hayley Lemoine was sixth in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Ana Silka was fifth in the 200 freestyle and Hayley Hacker was sixth in the 200 individual medley. Though not as deep as the girls’ squad, Palisades’ boys varsity still finished eighth and the frosh/soph took sixth. Practicing indoors at Santa Monica College might have served the Dolphins well in Friday’s finals. Freshman J.J. Amis swam fourth in the frosh/soph 50 freestyle and the varsity 200 freestyle relay team of Jimmy de Mayo, Nicholas Kaufman, Lev Vaysman and Justin Nam was fourth. “All of them had excellent swims,” Nance said of the foursome, two of whom’Kaufman and Vaysman–swam their legs in identical times of 24.65 seconds. “The boys are going to be awesome a year from now.” John Cullen swam 1:02.58 in the boys’ varsity 100 backstroke. Peninsula of Rolling Hills won the varsity boys’ crown with 273 points. Other schools participating were El Segundo, Torrance, Culver City, Maranatha, Rio Mesa and Santa Monica. “This meet is a good barometer to see where we’re at,” Nance said. “Judging by our results I like where we are. Cleveland is going to be the main competition for the girls just like last year’s City finals.” The Dolphins took on San Pedro in a Western League meet at Banning High on Tuesday and travel to Venice for a showdown against their archrivals Friday at 7 p.m.

Emily Noel made one mistake in last Thursday’s home game against perennial Western League power Venice. Unfortunately, it proved to be one too many. Palisades’ ace pitched well enough to win, giving up only five hits and striking out 11 in a complete game, yet she took a 4-1 loss because the Dolphins simply could not generate enough offense against the Gondos. The softball program got a shot in the arm when Ray Marsden took over the coaching reigns at the start of the season and since then Palisades has been on the upswing. No game provided better proof of that than last Wednesday’s Western League opener at Hamilton. The Dolphins fell behind 6-0 but rallied for eight runs in the top of the sixth inning and held on to win 8-6. Noel started strong against Venice, striking out two of the first three batters she faced. However, opposing pitcher Danielle Mestas got around on a low inside pitch and drove it over the right fielder’s head for an inside-the-park home run that plated two runs and put Palisades in an early hole. Mestas had four strikeouts in the first two innings and was working on a no-hitter in the third when she was accidentally plunked in the back of the head by her own catcher, who was attempting to throw the ball to second base. Mestas had to leave the game and while her replacement was not nearly as overpowering, she did succeed in getting outs. The Gondos added to their lead in the third when, after three straight singles, a slow roller to first base resulted in two more runs. Noel settled down after that, not allowing a baserunner after that, but the damage was done. Palisades managed to scratch out a run of its own in the fifth when Selma Cortez scored on a single to center. Looking to mount a miracle comeback for the second game in a row, Marsden had Hannah Fagerbakke pinch hit with one out in the bottom of the seventh and she came through with a bloop single to right. Stephanie Vasquez was inserted to pinch run and Demi Barrientos walked on a 3-2 count to put runners on first and second. But Vasquez was tagged out trying to steal third and Alexis Jefferson went down on strikes for the final out. Aarica King got the Dolphins’ first hit with one out in the fourth–smoking a line drive off the third baseman’s glove for a single. She immediately stole second, but was stranded after a strikeout and a groundout.

At 6’9′, Pacific Palisades native Curt Toppel stands out as a foreign volleyball player on the floor of Doha’s Al Arabi stadium. His team, also named ‘Al Arabi’ is owned by the king’s family and has finished the first round of the six-team Qatar Premier League undefeated. It is cruising confidently into the second round… anything else would be a serious embarrassment to the king. Last weekend was a change of pace. Team Tunisia needed a high-octane beach player to win the four-man Dukhan Water Works volleyball championship 80 miles from Doha. Toppel never says “No” to anything volleyball and became a bona fide Tunisian for the day. Veni, vidi, vici! He came, he saw and he conquered. Each player received a victory check for 1,000 Qatar Real (about $300). The check was appreciated, the golden cup was heavy, and the honor was great. On the way back to Doha, a herd of camels crossed the road single file. “Who owns the camels?” Toppel asked. “Nobody” his neighbor answered, “Who needs camels nowadays?” Next week, “Al Arabi” will travel to Saudi Arabia, with Curt as the only permitted foreign player on the team, to compete in the Pan-Arabia cup. Such has been the life of Toppel since he graduated from Stanford in 2004. After extensive travels with the U.S. national team he signed season-long contracts with professional teams in Spain, Italy, Greece, S. Korea, Germany, Puerto Rico, and now Qatar. Along the way the 28-year-old learned to speak five languages and is working on Arabic. Life has proven to be difficult in this liberal Islamic country, where temperatures in the summer often exceed 120 degrees and swimming pools need refrigeration. In Qatar it is improper to be seen in public with a female other than your wife. Toppel’s contract is therefore very specific about not embarrassing his team or the sport. So the “California Kid” cannot don his swimming trunks at a sunny beach and take a dip in the cool water without being charged with indecency. He’ll have to save that for his return to Will Rogers State Beach. Still, he wouldn’t trade his life experiences for the world. Life looks good from above. For more on Qatar volleyball, go to www.qatarvolleyball.com.

For the second straight week the Palisades High track & field team hosted a tri-meet at Stadium by the Sea and once again several Dolphins turned in notable performances–this time against Marshall and San Pedro. Perhaps the most anticipated event of the day was the boys’ varsity mile where Palisades junior Carlos Bustamante went head-to-head with defending City champion Pablo Rosales of San Pedro. The two ran side by side for three and a half laps before Rosales finally pulled away down the final straightaway to win by two seconds in 4:30. The result was identical to their meeting a year prior at the San Pedro meet, when the Pirates’ top runner finished in 4:33 and Bustamante in 4:35. “I ran faster than I did last week and I had negative splits–that’s what Coach [Ron Brumel] wants,” said Bustamante, who placed third at the City finals last spring. “It’s always fun running against him because we push each other to run faster. It helps me.” Rosales also enjoys the challenge: “It’s great to test myself against good competition early on just to see where I’m at. I ran 4:22 last year and my goal is 4:15 this year.” In the girls’ 400 meters Lauren Gustafson won easily in 63 seconds. “I like having someone pushing me,” said Gustafson, who also took first place in the long jump with a distance of 15′ 7”more than two feet farther than her closest competitor. “This is about what I was running last year so I should get faster as the season goes on.” Erika Martin continues to excel in whatever race she enters. On Friday it was the 100 meters (where she finished second in 12.73 seconds) and the 200 meters (26.51 seconds). She did not run her best events, the 100 and 300 hurdles, in order to save herself for the Camarillo Classic the next day. Martin plays soccer for Pali in the winter and admits she has no time to train prior to the start of the track season. “Last year I was in really good shape because I was attacking more but we went to a different formation this year and I didn’t run as much.” Martin describes track as “dangerous and exciting” and loves the “adrenaline rush” she gets at the start of a race. “I like the hurdles best,’ she said. ‘There’s something about running full speed at barriers'” Brumel was impressed by the overall quality of the competition at Friday’s meet and said the atmosphere was much different than what the Dolphins will encounter this week in their first league meet. “San Pedro always has a great program but Marshall really surprised me,” he said. “Not only did they have athletes in every event but they had a lot of high-caliber kids–especially in the sprints. These last two meets are two of the best we’ve had here in years.” Martin won the 100 and 300 hurdles in Camarillo, Gustafson was sixth in the 800 in 2:31 and Chidera Izuchukwu was fifth in the shot put with a throw of 35′ 5.’ Bustamante lost his shoe in the first 50 meters of the two-mile race and eventually had to pull out after six laps with his feet badly blistered. In the frosh/soph division Kolmus Iheanos was seventh in the boys’ shot put (his best throw was 40′) and Eric Lopez was second in the 800.