Pali High Volleyball Third at TOC

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Confidence was sky high for Palisades High’s boys volleyball team heading into last weekend’s Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara.

The Dolphins were seeded No. 2 behind Loyola—a team they beat in the semifinals of the Best of the West Tournament in March—and were eager to face the Cubs again and prove that win was no fluke.

In the first round Friday the Dolphins played Foothill Tech of Ventura and won in four sets. That evening they swept Sanger to set up a semifinal showdown against host Santa Barbara on Saturday.

The Dons won 25-16, 25-12, 25-21, dealing Palisades only its second defeat all season, and went on to beat Loyola in four sets to win the championship.

The Dolphins rebounded to sweep Newbury Park, 25-16, 25-21, 25-18 in the third-place match. They had finished second the year before as well, sweeping San Marcos and Valencia West Ranch on the first day, falling to eventual champion Corona del Mar in the semifinals, then beating Westlake.   

Palisades sharpened up for the tournament with an intersectional match at Thousand Oaks two days earlier and got all it could handle from the upset-minded Lancers, who rallied from a 21-17 deficit to steal the first set, 25-23—ending the Dolphins’ string of 35 consecutive sets won.

Despite UCLA-bound setter Marcus Partain spraining an ankle midway through the match, Palisades prevailed in five sets for its 16th win in a row.