It took a game to warm up, but once the Palisades High boys’ volleyball team got on track it could not be stopped. With the Dolphins clinging to a 5-4 lead in game two, Kene Izuchukwu and Ross Lipschultz combined for a stuff block and from that moment on Tuesday night’s City Section semifinal match belonged to Palisades. The second-seeded Dolphins defeated two-time defending champion Granada Hills, 13-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22, and advanced to the finals for the first time in 10 years. “We came out flat but we made a major adjustment between games,” senior outside hitter Adam Cristiano said. “We got our passing going, we raised our energy level and we figured out how to neutralize their middles.” Palisades (18-0) will meet ninth-seeded El Camino Real (12-5) for the championship at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Cal State Northridge. Outside hitter Matt Hanley had nine kills, 12 digs and two aces for the Dolphins. He also made an incredible 24 of 25 jump serves. “I’m sure ECR will give us a run for our money,” Hanley said. “But we’ve beaten teams that have crushed them so hopefully we can win the section.” Vegas ran Palisades’ offense expertly, finishing with 41 assists and two blocks. Izuchukwu had 10 kills, two aces and two solo blocks. Noah Kauss had nine kills and Jordan Cohen sparked the defense with 17 digs. “Palisades played a solid game and deserved to win,” Granada Hills Coach Tom Harp said. “We couldn’t get any runs going and our lack of blocking cost us. If Palisades plays the way it did tonight I don’t see them losing on Saturday.” Spurred on by a home crowd that included several players from Palisades’ girls volleyball squad, the Dolphins built a 24-18 lead in the fourth game only to see the Highlanders (14-3) stave off four match points before succumbing. Lipschultz was happy the Dolphins rose to the challenge when the pressure was on: “This is one of the best teams we’ve played and one of the best team efforts we’ve had all season.”

Former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Wes Parker, who was voted to Rawlings’ all-time Gold Glove team in August, received his trophy last week–a fine centerpiece to the six Gold Gloves he won during his career from 1964-72. A panel of 70 experts trimmed the initial list of Gold Glove winners (over 250 since the award’s inception in 1957) down to a ballot of 50 players that included 18 outfielders, five catchers, three pitchers and 24 infielders (six at each position). Nearly one million votes were cast via Internet, by mail and in person at sporting goods stores. Parker, a 35-year Pacific Palisades resident, played in two World Series (winning one) with the Dodgers. He collected 53 percent of the votes at first base to finish was selected over fellow first base greats Don Mattingly, Keith Hernandez, Vic Power, J.T. Snow and Bill White. “When I first saw who I was up against I figured Mattingly and Hernandez were my main competition since they played in New York,” Parker said. “Overall, I think the committee did a phenomenal job narrowing the candidates and the fans really did their homework when it came to the voting.” Joining Parker on the all-time team were Greg Maddux (pitcher); Johnny Bench (catcher); Joe Morgan (second base); Ozzie Smith (shortstop); Brooks Robinson (third base); and outfielders Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente and Ken Griffey, Jr. “From an individual standpoint, this means everything to me,” Parker confessed. “There’s no feeling that compares with winning the World Series but that’s a team achievement. This is an acknowledgement of my individual skills and it wraps up my career in a nice blue ribbon.” Robinson, who won a record-tying 16 Gold Gloves, received 61 percent of the vote–the highest percentage for any position. Bench was second with 59 percent, followed by Smith (56 percent) and Parker. “The only one that might have been different was Johnny Bench,” Parker replied when asked if he was surprised by the poll results. “Not that Johnny doesn’t deserve it, I just thought a lot of younger fans would choose [Ivan] Rodriguez because he’s still playing.” Parker’s .996 career fielding average set a major league record (since tied) and he teamed with Jim Lefebvre, Maury Wills and Jim Gilliam in 1965 and 1966 to form the only all-switch-hitting regular infield in major league history. Just before his final season with the Dodgers, Parker moved from Century City to his current home near Will Rogers State Historic Park–within three miles of where he grew up in Brentwood. Last spring, donning his No. 28 jersey and Dodgers cap, Parker threw the ceremonial first pitch to California First Lady Maria Shriver in March to open the Palisades Pony Baseball Association season at the Field of Dreams, prompting PPBA Commissioner Bob Benton to ask, “Who could catch our First Lady any better than a six-time Gold Glover?”

The Palisades High varsity baseball team wrapped up the regular season with a 10-0 five-inning rout of Hamilton on Monday that put the finishing touch to the Dolphins’ methodical march to their fifth consecutive Western League. Jon Moscot had a home run and four RBIs and had five strikeouts in four no-hit innings, Brett Whalen had two hits and Alex Meadow had two hits and two RBIs for the Dolphins (19-11-1 overall, 14-1 in league), who now wait to see where they are seeded for the City Section playoffs, which begin next Wednesday. A seeding meeting will be held Saturday morning at Santee High. The Dolphins head to the playoffs with momentum, having won seven of their last eight games and 11 of 13. As a league champion, Palisades will likely host its first-round game. Softball Coach Jose Alvarado was happy Palisades got an opportunity to take on top-seeded San Pedro in the second round of the City Championship playoffs last Thursday. However, he also knew the 16th-seeded Dolphins would need to play a perfect game to upset the defending champions. It didn’t happen. Palisades stayed close for two innings at Angels Gate Park, allowing just two runs, but the Pirates blew the game open with five runs in the third and three more in the fourth en route to a 13-0 victory that ended the Dolphins’ season at 12-6 San Pedro senior Taylor Petty, who became the winningest pitcher in section history earlier this season, pitched a two-hitter. Swimming Palisades High’s girls and boys teams competed in the City Section prelims yesterday at the Los Angeles Memorial Pool (results undetermined at press time). The defending champion girls are one of the favorites to win at next Wednesday’s championship meet. Track and Field Having dominated the Western League all season, Palisades competes in the City Section preliminaries today at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa. Look for results from today’s meet in next week’s issue. The City Track and Field Championships are next Thursday at 2 p.m., also at Birmingham High. Tennis Three days after losing to Taft in the City team finals Palisades players were back on the court Tuesday for the first round of the City Individual tournament. Third-seeded Matt Goodman and Jeremy Shore had a bye along with fourth-seeded Ren Nielsen and Kyung Choi while Pali teammates Spencer Lewin and Che Borja won their first doubles match, 6-0, 6-2, and Ali Yazdi and Eric Eckhert won, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Brett Allchorn won, 6-1, 6-0 in singles and freshman brothers Oliver and Trinity Thornton each won their singles matches. Second round matches are today at Balboa Sports Center in Encino.

The St. Matthew’s softball team won its fifth consecutive Pacific Basin League championship last Wednesday with a 6-4 victory over Windward. The Falcons trailed 4-0 in the third inning before rallying for four runs of their own on a walk, two bunts, a run-scoring single and a bases-clearing double by Jessica Goodkin. Jackie Carr had eight strikeouts and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning to keep Windward scoreless over the last six innings. St. Matthew’s took a 6-4 lead on hits by Lauren Beaver and Molly Kornfeind, a bunt by Courtney Carswell and a sacrifice fly by Kristen Goldberg. When Windward was retired in order in the top of the seventh inning the Falcons had avenged their only loss. The difference in the game, however, was St. Matthew’s defense. Centerfielder Molly Kornfeind made a running catch in the third inning and later Cami Chapus fielder a grounder to third and threw to across the diamond to Lauren Beaver that squelched a Wildcats rally. Shortstop Kelsey Reynolds handled four chances without an error and Goodkin made a run-saving catch in left field with two outs in the fourth inning. Goldberg handled two ground balls, a pop fly and a line-drive. In the semifinals on May 2, St. Matthew’s defeated Archer, 15-7. Tennis St. Matthew’s beat Crossroads 4-2 at Penmar Park to win the Pacific Basin League team championship last Wednesday, with Jamie West and Cody Schiffer winning in singles and the tandems of Brandon Newman-Danny Jensen and Clara Lysy-Brooke Gowey notching doubles points. In the Individuals tournament the week before Schiffer took first place in singles and the team of Newman-Jensen won the doubles crown. Volleyball The Falcons’ seventh-grade boys’ volleyball team rallied to beat Campbell Hall, 14-25, 25-17, 15-10, to win the Delphic League’s ‘B’ division championship and reverse two regular-season losses to the Vikings. Chris Sebastian’s seven-point serving run gave the Falcons the lead for good in the second game and his eight straight points closed out the third game. Solid setting by John O’Day and Chase Klein, passing by Beau McGinley and Hugo Bertram and serving by Chad Kanoff also contributed for St. Matthew’s. To reach the championship match against Campbell Hall, St. Matthew’s defeated Harvard-Westlake, 25-23, 25-22, in the semifinals’avenging two earlier losses to the Wolverines. Golf St. Matthew’s took second place at the Pacific Basin League Golf Championships last Friday at The Lakes Golf Course in El Segundo with a score of 224. Andrew Tinger and Taylor Stokes were seventh and eighth overall with scores of 35 (six over par)) to lead the Falcons. Ryan Kahn carded a 37, followed by Nick Lenard (38), Lawrence Kondra (39), Thomas Tortorici (40), Matt Chen (44), Peter St. John (40) and Preston Clifford (49). The Falcons finished with a 4-2 record after winning only one match in the past three years.

Amanda Lisberger was at it again last weekend in Lancaster. After becoming Brentwood’s all-time leading scorer in the winter, the Palisadian converted the decisive penalty kick to lift her Eagles club soccer team to a 3-2 victory over Eclipse White of Laguna Hills and its second consecutive state championship. The match was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation and 2-2 after 30 additional minutes of overtime. The shootout was tied 5-5 when Lisberger, a senior bound for the University of Texas, made her game-winning kick. The Eagles are the first team in history to advance to the state finals five consecutive years without losing a match. In 2004, they defeated San Diego Surf on penalty kicks while in 2005 and 2006 Surf prevailed in the same manner. Last season, the Eagles won the state title en route to winning both the Far West Regional crown and the United States Youth Soccer National Championship. This year, the Eagles reached the state final by defeating Slammers FC (Newport Beach) in the quarterfinals and Rancho Santa Fe Attack (San Diego) in the semifinals. Lisberger and the Eagles next advance to next month’s Far West Regionals in Honolulu.

There’s just no stopping Palisadian Lee Calvert, who seems to get better and better the older she gets. She recently returned from the Canadian Masters in Calgary, Alberta, where she captured a gold medal, two silver medals and a bronze in the sport she has dominated for decades–badminton. Calvert won the 80-and-over mixed doubles division and earned a bronze while competing in a younger age group. Add two runner-up finishes to the mix and that’s no small ‘birdie.’ “The nicest part is that they handled the largest Canadian Masters I’ve ever attended–a record of over 20 entrants,” Calvert said of the five-day, six-night event held at the Glencoe Club. “The mixed doubles was the most important event for me at this tournament and that’s the one I won.” In January, Calvert played in the Jerry Toms U.S. Senior International Badminton Championships at Miami Lakes, Florida, and, as always, she didn’t return empty-handed. There, she won the 80-and-over mixed division with Dick Witte of St. Louis and also took the gold in the 75+ division, where she was the Calvert was back at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA for a workout on Monday–no doubt training for her next competition. Palisades’ ageless wonder won’t say when she’ll stop competing but it’s clear she’s not ready to quit just yet.

Dolphins Blow Two-Game Lead but Recover to Win Second Round Match

It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. Not this early anyway. The Palisades High boys’ volleyball team learned a valuable lesson Tuesday night against Los Angeles Marshall–when you have the momentum, don’t let it slip away. Up two games to zero, the Dolphins were cruising to an easy victory in their second round City playoff match when all of a sudden a few service errors and mental mistakes allowed the visiting Barristers back in the match. From there, it was nip and tuck but Palisades finally, nearly two and a half hours later, escaped with a 25-11, 25-23, 29-31, 21-25, 15-9 victory. “It sure helps to have homecourt advantage,” Pali Coach Chris Forrest said afterwards. “Hopefully we realize now that you can’t underestimate anybody. This is the playoffs. Every team wants to win. I hope we don’t have another match like this!” Hitter Adam Cristiano ended the first game with an ace and setter Scott Vegas’ alert “quick” gave Palisades a seemingly insurmountable lead. At 13-13 the third game became an epic struggle, with the Dolphins having two match points and saving three game points before Marshall extended the match with a kill. Hanley’s ace off the back line gave Palisades a 11-5 lead in the shorter fifth game and the Dolphins closed out the victory soon after. Palisades was the No. 2 seed behind Chatsworth in the 32-team tournament, meaning the Dolphins will have home matches all the way through the playoffs. At times, however, it was hard to tell which team was the higher seed on Tuesday. Jordan Cohen, normally a hitter, stepped in to play the libero position for the Dolphins and passed expertly most of the match, feeding Vegas, Cristiano, Matt Hanley, Kene Izuchukwu, Noah Kauss and Ross Lipschultz for offensive attacks. “I play libero during club season so I’m capable of doing it and that’s where the team needed me today,” Cohen said. “I was just taking all the balls I possibly could and playing with energy.” Cohen and his teammates know they can’t afford to overlook any opponent on their way to the City finals. Last Thursday’s first round match was much easier–a three-game sweep of No. 31 Cleveland. “It’s going to get harder every match,” Cohen said. “We know that. The important thing is that everyone stepped up when they needed to in that fifth game. We got our confidence back.” The Dolphins will host 10th-seeded Taft in the quarterfinals tonight at 7 p.m. Ross Lipschultz gets fired up after a stuff block Tuesday against Marshall. Palisades won in five games and advanced to tonight’s quarterfinals.

Even without a “home” pool for practice and meets, Palisades High’s varsity boys’ and girls’ swim teams won by large margins in last Wednesday?s Western League finals meet at Venice. Palisades took first, second and third in numerous events, but Coach Maggie Nance was still concerned. “Our times were slow,” she said. Times matter because swimmers with top 25 times in the league championships qualify in their events for next Wednesday?s City preliminaries in Los Angeles. Nance confirmed that the pool looked as if it had not been filled completely, meaning that swimmers were fighting the water rather than flowing through it. “Many of my swimmers didn’t get a challenge in the league meets,” Nance said. “When we swam against Granada Hills and San Pedro [nonleague opponents], it was more competitive.” Palisades’ girls are so deep with so many talented swimmers that Nance is considering moving some of her frosh/soph girls up to varsity for prelims. “It’s a shame,” Nance said. “Some of my junior varsity girls are faster than some of the girls who will be coming from other schools, but I can only send four girls in each event.” The Dolphins won the City girls title through their depth last year and appear to have the sheer numbers to do so again. “I didn?t have a swimmer who placed first in any event,” Nance said. “But we had four girls in the top 12 in almost every event. Some other teams have a star, but then no depth.” Nance said she doesn’t have the same level of commitment from many of the boys on her team and that the girls outnumber the boys two to one. The boys’ lack of depth in the City finals is especially a problem when it comes to putting together relays. “You win or lose on the relays,” Nance said. “I?m thinking of raiding my frosh/soph team.” One problem Nance doesn’t face is athletic ineligibility due to grades. Of the 60 swimmers on her four teams (boys and girls varsity and JV), all of them are eligible for the playoffs and 12 have a grade point average of 3.85 or higher. Nance’s biggest problem this year has been finding a pool for her teams to practice and compete in. The Palisades-Malibu YMCA pool in Temescal Canyon has been closed since February and repairs are just beginning. Nance said last week that she was worried because her swimmers weren’t getting enough pool time to attain their best times. They have had to travel to Santa Monica College for practice every afternoon after school. The City finals are May 21 at the Los Angeles Memorial pool, located next to the L.A. Coliseum.

For the fourth year in a row Palisades High’s boys tennis team will play for the City Championship. Bud Kling’s squad punched its ticket to Friday’s final with a convincing 22 ‘-7 semifinal victory over third-seeded Eagle Rock on Monday. Brett Allchorn won three out of four sets at No. 1 singles, Oliver Thornton swept four sets at No. 2 singles, Kyung Choi won three out of four sets at No. 3 singles and Trinity Thornton won two out of four sets at No. 4 singles. The second-seeded Dolphins (22-2) play top-seeded Taft (14-1) at Balboa Sports Complex in Encino tomorrow at noon in a rematch of last spring’s championship match. “This was a satisfying win because their coach thought they should’ve been the No. 2 seed over us,” Kling said. “We’re looking forward to playing Taft again. They beat us last year so hopefully we can turn the tables on them.” Palisades beat Taft in the City semifinals on its way to winning the championship in 2005 and 2006. Taft was seeded third when it upset the top-seeded Dolphins a year ago. Eagle Rock was no match for Palisades’ depth on Monday. Matt Goodman and Jeremy Shore swept at No. 1 doubles, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, Spencer Lewin and Ren Nielsen swept, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2, at No. 2 doubles and Che Borja teamed with Ali Yazdi to win two out of three sets at No. doubles. In the quarterfinals last Wednesday Palisades crushed seventh-seeded Marshall, 25-4 ‘, with Allchorn, Choi and the Thornton brothers each sweeping four singles sets in the round robin format. Softball Wins Playoff Opener Aarica King reached on an infield single, stole second base, and scored the winning run on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Palisades High varsity softball team beat Crenshaw, 4-3, in the first round of the City Section playoffs Tuesday afternoon at Stadium by the Sea. “This is what we wanted’a chance to play the best team in the City,” Pali Coach Jose Alvarado said. “I’m proud of the way the girls never gave up, even after Crenshaw tied it in the top of the seventh. We came right back and scored ourselves.” The 16th-seeded Dolphins advanced to today’s second round game at top-seeded San Pedro. Baseball Goes Extra in Win Palisades High needed nine gut-wrenching innings but finally prevailed over University, 3-2, on Monday in a pitchers’ duel at George Robert Field. The Dolphins improved to 12-1 in league (their only loss was last week to Westchester) thanks to the steady arm of starter Jonathan Moscot and reliever Buck Traweek. Palisades took a 2-0 lead in the first inning but the scrappy Warriors tied it in the fourth inning even though Moscot struck out the side. University threatened with two baserunners in the top of the seventh, then loaded the bases in the eighth but could not plate a run either time. In the bottom of the ninth, Lucas Berry hit a leadoff double for the Dolphins, was bunted to third and scored on Alex Meadow’s line drive single to right field. Meanwhile, Palisades’ junior varsity squad improved to 13-0 in league after Monday.

Palisadian Baxter Humby, the “One-Armed Bandit,” defended his world kickboxing title against Russian Mario Andelic on April 26 at Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood. “Baxter was unbelievable,” said Gerry Blanck, owner of the martial arts center on Alma Real where Humby trains. “It was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. There were tons of people from the Palisades there.” Blanck added that a film company was at the fight to make a documentary about Humby. Humby earned Palisadian-Post Athlete of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007 after fighting five times in California without a loss and adding two title belts to his collection. He currently holds four world titles and teaches kickboxing classes at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA and Blanck’s studio. Born without most of his right arm, Humby has risen to the top of his profession through dedicated training and the mentality that he cannot be beat. “A lot of my opponents underestimated me in the beginning because of my so-called handicap,” Humby recalls. “But I’ve won enough fights now that I’m pretty well respected. Most of the time now I’m the main event on the card.”