Pali Tennis Nets Top Seed

Several days before the start of Tuesday night’s City playoffs seeding meeting, Palisades High head coach Bud Kling said he would lobby hard for the No. 1 spot, feeling his team’s dominance in league and the fact that it is the two-time defending champion warrant consideration for the top position. Turns out, Kling hardly had to open his mouth. The committee voted 5-2 to award Palisades the top seed ahead of West Valley League rivals Granada Hills and Taft, who notched the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. “Back in February it looked like Granada Hills was the overwhelming favorite, but they lost to Taft so there’s a strong possibility those teams will share the [West Valley League] title,” Kling said after the Dolphins wrapped up Western League play undefeated when Fairfax defaulted Monday’s scheduled match. “Now I think we have as strong a case as anyone, especially when you consider that we beat Granada Hills convincingly in the finals last year when our teams were thought to be about even.” Palisades has a first-round bye and will host the North Hollywood-Marshall winner next Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Palisades Tennis Center. ‘They are both good,’ Kling said. ‘It’s really deep this year. We also have Eagle Rock and Carson on our side of the draw. So we have four good teams in our half’especially Carson. They are loaded 1-2-3 in singles so they are going to be very tough for us.’ Semifinals are May 7 and the finals May 11 at Balboa Sports Center in Encino. For the City individuals tournament, which begins after the team finals, Pali’s Kyung Choi and Justin Atlan were seeded in the top 16 in singles. In doubles, Pali’s top team of Sepehr Safii and Michael Light was seeded No. 2, Mason Hays and Ren Nielsen were seeded third and Jeremy Shore and Matt Goodman notched the fifth seed. Palisades (20-3 overall, 12-0 in league) travels north for the Ojai tournament today through Sunday. 10B Mason Hays hits a backhand volley in the Dolphins’ 7-0 victory over Westchester. Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer