Six Palisadians helped lead the Pacific Palisades Volleyball Club U14 team to a second-place finish in the gold division of the Southern California Volleyball Association Boys Classic in Anaheim on June 16. The team then placed 10th at the Boys Junior National Championships in Reno, Nevada on July 1.
Andrew Bagnard, Collin Flintoft, Xander Klein, Jimmy McGinnis, Ian Parish and Ryan Pecsok all live in the Pacific Palisades and were instrumental in their team’s success this season, which included a No. 2 ranking in the country in the 14s entering play in the Junior Nationals.
In the Boys Classic, Pali won its first nine matches, including the first six in straight sets, before falling to Torrimar, a team from Puerto Rico, on Sunday in the finals, 28-26, 25-18. Pali entered the Classic as a No. 5 seed.
At Junior Nationals, Pali swept its first three matches of pool play in straight sets before losing its momentum. On the tournament’s final day, Pali defeated Ohana AC from Orange County, 25-8, 23-25, 15-11, but fell to Balboa Bay, 25-14, 25-15.
Five of the six Palisadians will return to the team next season as eighth graders. Bagnard (setter), Klein (middle blocker) and Pecsok (libero) will attend St. Matthew’s, McGinnis (opposite) will go to Corpus Christi and Flintoft (defensive specialist) will enter Calvary Christian. Parish (middle blocker) will play at Loyola next season.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
