By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Being swept on its home floor by its archrival seems to have lit a fire under the Palisades High girls volleyball team. Since that setback the Dolphins have raised their game to a higher level and it showed at the Falcons Classic in La Crescenta two weeks ago, as Carlos Gray’s squad battled its way into the Gold bracket and avenged its Western League loss to Venice with a decisive 25-20, 25-17 tournament victory.

Palisades would eventually lose 25-16, 25-23  in the quarterfinal round to eventual champion Saugus, but the Dolphins showed the fight their coach was hoping for as the season reaches the midway point. In its four league matches after the defeat to the Gondos, Palisades did not drop a set against Hamilton, University, Fairfax and Westchester, improving to 4-1 in league with a rematch at Venice looming next Wednesday.     

Last Friday, the Dolphins took on Windward  in an intersectional contest and tamed the visiting Wildcats, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-17.

The race for the No. 1 seed in the eight-team City Section Open Division playoffs is heating up, with Venice and Palisades in the mix along with West Valley League frontrunners Taft and Granada Hills, defending champion El Camino Real, Cleveland (fourth place in the West Valley), East Valley League leader Grant, Marshall and Eagle Rock of the Northern League and San Pedro and Carson representing the Marine League.   

Palisades has won a record 30 City titles but has not lifted the trophy since the 2020 season, which got delayed until the spring of 2021.

Dolphins Ninth in Girls Rated Race, Boys 33rd in Sweepstakes at Woodbridge XC Classic

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High’s boys and girls cross country teams got a chance to compete on a national stage Saturday night in the 43rd annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic and the Dolphins shined bright under the lights  of the winding three-mile course at Great Park in Irvine.

The varsity girls were entered in the rated division, the second tier in the entire two-day meet, and placed ninth out of 32 teams with 348 points and a cumulative time of 1:30:56.0. El Toro was first with 90 points as its five fastest runners were all among the top 25.

Setting the pace for the Dolphins was freshman Maya Hively, who clocked 17:39.2 to take 31st by one-tenth of a second ahead of Conifier junior Gianna Cicora. Sophomore Zoey Morris, the reigning City Section Division I champion, was Palisades’ second finisher in 17:46.3—a whopping 1:06.2 improvement over her  effort in the Blue Varsity Girls B race last fall when she was 27th. Junior Louisa Mammen, the Dolphins’ swiftest runner at Woodbridge one year ago (20 seconds faster and 10 spots in front of Morris) was Palisades’ third finisher this time around, placing 53rd in 17:57.0.

Sophomore Gabriella Gilyard was 115th in the field of 217, posting a time of 18:44.9, and freshman Eleanor Mammen was six places behind in 18:48.6. Junior Daila Harinck was another six spots and six seconds back in 18:56.2 and 10th-grader Kendal Shaver rounded out the lineup as the seventh runner, finishing in 19:50.0.

Erika Kirk of Vista Murrieta won in 16:33.0 and El Toro’s Gweneth Williams took second in a race in which 56 girls broke 18 minutes.

The last girls race of the night was a sizzler as Rylee Blade of Corona Santiago shattered the meet record by 12.2 seconds, blazing to victory in 15:20.2   to top a field that included defending champion Jane Hedengren of Timpview High in Provo, UT and 2022 winner Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura, who finished fourth and fifth this year, respectively. Chiara Dailey of La Jolla was second, nearly eight full seconds behind the winner.

Also placing ninth in the team standings was Palisades’ Blue Junior/Senior girls team, led by Mar Henderson-Maclennan, who was 12th overall in  19:29.5. Fellow juniors Tallulah Younger (21:32.3) and Maya Bhasin (21:45.3) were 88th and 100th, respectively.

The Dolphins’ sophomore girls placed third with 97 points, trailing only Corona Santiago (59) and Trabuco Hills (73). Ninth-grader Amelia Halpin was Palisades’ leading lady, coming in 16th in 20:12.2. Seven spots behind was sophomore Vitalijo Schafer (20:2.9) and three spots later was freshman Hanna Sadzik (20:28.2).      

For the boys, Palisades took 10th in the Blue (Division I) sophomore division with a score of 413. The Dolphins’pacesetter was freshman Justin Funk (23rd in 16:22.7), followed by twin brother Ethan (37th in   16:34.3 and sophomore Thomas Butler (96th in 17:14.1) in a large field of 517 runners.

In the Blue Senior race, Palisades placed 15th out of 27 teams, led by junior Jackson Taylor (18th in  16:13.2), senior Basel Thierry (37th in 16:33.5) and junior Lajus Collins (80th in 17:10.7).

The last race of the, going off just before 10 p.m., was the Doug Speck Boys Sweepstakes and Palisades was making its second straight appearance in the elite division after placing 20th in 2023 with a collective time of 1:16:20.5. The Dolphins clocked 1:16:41.3 Saturday but finished 33rd out of 36 teams in a race dominated by out-of-state schools. Herriman of Utah won its third straight Woodbridge crown with 58 points while Owen Powell of Mercer Island, WA.edged Josiah Tostenson from Crater, OR by two-tenths of a second to take the individual title in a record 13:30.3. Junior Blake Sigworth paced the Dolphins (88th  in 14:45.0), followed by senior Owen Lewicky (110th in 14:54.0) and Zachary Cohen (173rd in 15:18.8).   

The volleyball program at Marymount High has enjoyed great success since Palisadian Cari Klein took the reins in 1998 and her current squad could prove to be one of her best.

The Sailors took second place at the prestigious Durango Fall Classic last weekend in Las Vegas—the fourth time in the last five seasons they have finished in the top three at perhaps the toughest national tournament.

Featuring four Palisades residents—sophomore libero Karys Campos, senior opposite hitter Ryan Gilhooly, junior defensive specialist Declan Eastman and junior middle blocker Jordan Johnson—the varsity team took first in its pool with victories over Las Vegas area power Palo Verde (25-19, 25-17), San Jose Archbishop Mitty (25-23, 18-25, 25-21) and Rancho Cucamonga (25-19, 25-21). Next up was the qualifying round to determine if the Sailors would advance to the championship bracket or settle for the silver bracket instead. They clinched a spot in the former with a 25-19, 25-19 sweep of San Diego Cathedral Catholic.

In the quarterfinals, Marymount faced Bay League frontrunner Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach and, in a tense struggle, Klein’s team avenged a four-set loss to the Mustangs back on August 22 with a 30-28, 21-25, 25-18 triumph. In the semifinals, the Sailors avenged an Aug. 31 loss to Cornerstone Christian of San Antonio, TX with a 20-25, 25-19, 25-23 win.

The finals pitted Marymount against defending champion Mater Dei of Santa Ana and, in one of the best championship matches in the tournament’s storied history, the Monarchs prevailed, 25-18, 24-26, 28-26—snapping Marymount’s nine-match winning streak. Three Sailors earned All-Tournament honors, each of them NCAA Division I commits: junior outside hitter Sammy Destler (Washington), junior middle blocker Elle Vandeweghe (SMU) and junior setter Olivia Penske (Georgetown).

It marked a big improvement over last year’s showing when Marymount took third in the bronze division (19th overall) at Durango on its way to finishing 29-12 overall and 7-3 in Mission League play. The Sailors are ranked in the top five in California and hosted Sierra Canyon, which was fifth in Las Vegas, in the first of two league showdowns Tuesday.

Marymount has won Durango twice, defeating Long Beach Wilson in the finals in 2003 and ousting Mater Dei in the finals three years ago en route to a perfect 35-0 campaign, after which the Sailors were declared national champions. That team featured St. Matthew’s alum Elia Rubin (now a junior outside hitter at Stanford) and Corpus Christi alum Kerry Keefe (now a junior outside hitter at Duke).    

Marymount was the runner-up at Durango in 2022 (losing to Cathedral Catholic in the finals) and was third in 2011 and 2019. The tournament debuted in 1995 and Assumption  of Louisville, KY holds the record for most titles (six), followed by Mater Dei (five) and Archbishop Mitty (four).         

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The pressure is on for Palisades High boys water polo senior Charlie Speiser. His brothers Sammy (Class of 2018) and Maximo (Class of 2020) never lost a single City Section playoff match and he wants to carry on the family tradition by ending his Dolphins career with one more first-place medal to match the three he already owns.   

Palisades has not suffered a postseason defeat since a quartefinal loss to Cleveland in 2011 when the program was re-instated by coach Adam Blakis after a 33-year hiatus. Since then, the Dolphins have captured 11 consecutive crowns—the second-longest active title streak in the section behind only Palisades’ boys tennis team, which has won 15 straight dating back to 2009.   

To make it an even dozen the Dolphins must cope with the graduation of top scorer Owen Grant, who netted a finals-record 12 goals against Granada Hills in the inaugural Open Division championship game, a 23-10 Palisades victory.

The team still has loads of offensive firepower with Speiser, Benjamin Mokhtar, Jake Gallagher, Oliver Ghiassi, Ilan Ahdout, Sherwin Hazany, Sean Ellis and Jonah Isackson. Preventing the other team from scoring is equally important and that responsibility lies on the shoulders of returning goalie Logan Mirzadeh, who will serve as a co-captain alongside Speiser.

In keeping with tradition, the Dolphins’ coaches entered them in  tough early-tournaments to prepare for league and postseason action. This year it was the Ranch Bernardo Varsity Aquafest from August 22 to 24, the Long Beach Poly Invite the next weekend and the Malibu Classic from September 5-7. Palisades  heads to the South Bay Tournament  this weekend seeking to level its overall won-loss record at the two-day competition.

Palisades won six straight titles from 1973-78 and started its latest dynasty in 2012 (there were no playoffs in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Dolphins’ current playoff win streak is 42 (four rounds the first 10 years and two last year), believed to be the most of any team in any sport in the City.

Grant and his brother Avery had a similar experience last season as   Speiser does this year as their older sibling Oliver was a key member of the Dolphins’ championship teams from 2016-19. In their current title run the Dolphins’ finals wins have all come against West Valley League foes: five versus Birmingham, three versus Granada Hills, two versus Cleveland and one versus El Camino Real. The Highlanders will have a challenging road back to the finals in light of the fact that they too lost their leading scorer, Jared Espinoza, to graduation. He tallied six goals  against Palisades in last year’s final.

Other schools vying to dethrone the Dolphins include Birmingham, San Pedro and Cleveland, last year’s Division I champion.

Water polo returned as a City co-ed sport in the winter of 2008 and was split into separate boys and girls sports that fall. Birmingham captured four titles over five seasons before Palisades started its decade plus of dominance under Blakis,  who is joined this year by program alums Theo and Ben Trask.

In addition to its 17 City titles (including the six from the ‘70s) Palisades won back-to-back CIF Southern California Regional Division III titles in 2021 and 2022 and lost to Bonita in the finals last  year at Mt. San Antonio College.

Now in his 24th season as coach of the women’s volleyball team at the University of Texas, Jerritt Elliott is trying to elevate the Longhorns into rarified air: three NCAA Division I championships in a row. They made it two straight last year, sweeping top-ranked Nebraska in the finals to give Elliott, who was raised in Pacific Palisades, his third title in Austin.    

The second-seeded Longhorns swept Louisville to win the title in 2022 when they finished 28-1. Last year the Big 12 champs won 29 of 33 matches and became the first team in NCAA women’s annals to win back-to-back titles in finals sweeps. They also had to knock off three No. 1 seeds to win the title: Stanford, Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Elliott has piloted the Horns to 15 conference crowns (including 13 straight trips to the regional finals from 2006-18) and seven finals appearances. He grew up on Miami Way and graduated from Palisades High. He was selected Pac-10 Coach of the Year in both of his seasons at USC, where he led the Women of Troy to a No. 4 national ranking and a 29-3 record in 2000.

His father Mel was a world class track athlete and later served as Executive Director of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA.

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Golfer Anna Song has plenty to shoot  for this season—namely a place in the City record book. The Palisades High senior is focused on becoming only the second girl in section history to win three straight individual titles, matching a feat achieved by Tiffany Yau of Van Nuys from 2011-13. After winning  by eight strokes and firing a finals low 67 (six-under par)  as a sophomore, she carded a bogey-free 68 last fall to win by seven shots and joined six others—Yau, Jee Hee Hwang of Birmingham, Paula Kerdpinyo of Marshall, Monica Petchakan of North Hollywood, Carol Cheng of Granada Hills and Angelina Kim of Fairfax as two-time winners since 2000.   

Song will also try to lead the Dolphins to their fourth consecutive team title. Granada Hills holds the City record with six straight titles, having done so twice, and has won 14 total, also a record.

Despite three players graduating from last year’s title-winning squad (Maya Otero, Katie Kim and Dylan Nuss), the Dolphins return not only the reigning champion but also Skylar Monahan (who tied for 12th at last year’s finals and fellow junior Chloe Suh (who was 15th).

Coach Dave Suarez has one of his deepest rosters yet with seniors Hailey Sugarman and Amanda Brown, sophomores Chelsea Sargent, Jordan Detwiler and Viktoria Amarillas and freshmen Ella Shuman, Abigail Yoda, Eleanor Yoda and Cam Dyckhoff.

The Dolphins are off to a strong start, winning three of their first four matches. They won their opener September 3 at Rancho Park, beating Marymount  230-268 with Monahan shooting a 41 over nine holes to earn medalist honors. Nine days later they beat Crossroads 235-251 at Encino with Monahan and Suh carding 44s to share medalist honors and Shuman and Abigail Yoda each shooting a 66.

On Sept. 16 at Woodley Lakes, Monahan led the way with a 41 and Suh shot a 45 but the Dolphins fell 230-252 to Brentwood. Song was in the lineup for the league opener against Granada Hills on Sept. 17 and she fired a stellar 33 to secure medalist honors in the Dolphins’ 21-stroke victory. Dhuman shot a 43, Monahan and Eleanor Yoda shot 45s, Abigail Yoda and Sugarman shot 50s and Brown shot a 55.

On Wednesday, Palisades teed off against Harvard-Westlake at Encino and on Wednesday the Dolphins took on Oaks Christian at Camarillo Springs. Next Tuesday afternoon they face league rival El Camino Real at Woodley and next Thursday is a rematch with Granada Hills at 2 p.m. at Knollwood. The City Championships are Nov. 7 at Balboa.

The Loyola High varsity football team beat St. Francis 35-7 for its first win of the season last Friday night in La Canada and three players with local ties contributed to the Cubs’ nonleague victory.

Thomas Knyal, who played in the the Palisades Recreation Center’s flag football league and led the Raiders to the Major Division title in 2018, had three catches for 18 yards against the Golden Knights.

Also on the squad are Corpus Christi graduates Nathan Turk, a 6-3, 270-lb. junior offensive guard and defensive tackle; and Max Meier, a 6-5, 240-lb. junior tight end and defensive end. Loyola imporved to 1-3.