Palisadians Pace Pacifica Christian

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Santa Monica Pacifica Christian High boys volleyball team just finished a magical season that saw the Seawolves win the Southern Section Division 6 championship in large part because of the contributions of Coach Brendan Ward and five players from the Palisades. 

Ward played baseball, beach volleyball and soccer at Palisades Charter High School (graduating in 2015), played collegiate volleyball at Cal Lutheran and now teaches economics at Pacifica Christian. He guided the squad to a 26-24, 26-24, 25-16 sweep of Liberty League rival Glendale Adventist in the CIF finals May 13. The team manager was senior Palisadian Sophia Ludwig.

Five of the 13 players on the team’s roster live in Pacific Palisades: junior opposite hitter Andrew Grinsfelder, junior outside hitter Jacob Lewis, sophomore setter Evan Golling, sophomore opposite hitter Rex Crabtree and sophomore middle blocker Miles Keller.

In addition, Ward (Class of 2011), Ludwig (2019), Grinsfelder (2020), Lewis (2020), Crabtree (2021) and sophomore outside hitter Caden Gendall (2021) are all graduates of Calvary Christian School in the Highlands.

Having won the section crown, Pacifica Christian advanced to the Southern California Regional Division IV playoffs as the No. 5 seed and upset No. 4 Rancho Dominguez of Long Beach in four sets in the first round May 16. Two days later, the Seawolves traveled to El Cajon to take on No. 1-seeded Granite Hills in the semifinals and fell in four sets. Granite Hills went on to win the title.   

Pacifica Christian finished with a 21-8 record—a vast improvement over its 2022 campaign when it posted a mark of 10-5 and was swept by Quartz Hill in its playoff opener. Grinsfelder and Lewis have known each other since they were 2-year-olds in the Mom’s Day Out program at Calvary.   

Rounding out the team are senior libero/defensive specialist Kai Esprabens, junior middle blocker Ben Lovett, senior outside hitter Elijah McCollum, junior opposite hitter Zane Worth, junior middle blocker Oliver Watson, senior opposite hitter Xander Constantine and sophomore middle blocker Henry Samuel.