Not even a last-minute switch of opponents could deter Palisades High’s girls varsity volleyball team from posting its second victory Monday afternoon. The Dolphins were supposed to have hosted Malibu, but instead it was Lighthouse Christian Academy that showed up at the Pali gymnasium. No matter, Palisades got off to a fast start and held off a furious comeback attempt by the previously-undefeated Saints to post a 25-13, 25-23, 18-25, 25-16 intersectional victory. The win came two days after the Dolphins lost to San Pedro, 26-24, in the semifinals of the Chatsworth Tournament. ‘Because of the situation we didn’t have a great warm-up and we gave them so many points in the first two games even though we won,’ Palisades’ senior setter Diana Grubb said. ‘They were pretty determined and we had to step it up at the end.’ Palisades took a commanding Megan Chanin served four consecutive aces to give Pali a commanding 20-8 lead in the first game and Kaylie McCallister ended the match with a crosscourt kill. Coach Cheri Stuart chose to rest starting middle blocker Natasha Vokhshoori so that reserves Alina Kheyfets and Margarita Juarez could gain valuable match experience. ‘I switched our lineup to see how some of the younger players would respond,’ said Stuart, who learned a lot about how her team stacks up against the rest of the City from its performance in Chatsworth. ‘Skill-wise I think we’re better than most of the teams I saw. We’re still young and inexperienced but I’ve seen incredible improvement so far.’ After suffering a season-opening sweep at the hands of Santa Monica, the Dolphins beat Sylmar twice in three days’first in a nonleague match last Thursday, then again at the Chatsworth tournament. ‘We beat them easier the second time,’ Grubb said of Sylmar. Palisades lost its first pool play match to Chatsworth but rebounded to beat Marshall, Verdugo Hills and Canoga Park before dispatching Sylmar in the quarterfinals. One of the best players on the court Monday was Lighthouse’s 5-4 freshman fireplug Stephanie Sommer, who finished with 18 kills, four aces and 12 digs. Following in the footsteps of her older sisters, Lauren (one of the Saints’ assistant coaches) and Lindsey (an outside hitter at Concordia University), Sommer lives in the Alphabet Streets and also plays for the Sunshine Volleyball Club. ‘Our school is small, we only have about 60 students,’ Sommer said of CIF Division V-A Lighthouse, located in Santa Monica. ‘It’s not like Palisades where you have thousands of people to draw from. But I love my school and I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else. This was definitely a challenge’Pali is the best team we’ve faced’but it’s good for our confidence to know we can play with them.’ The Saints are coached by Palisadian Suzie Dimpfl, who grew up in Santa Monica and formerly played for Pepperdine and the United States national team. ‘Stephanie was about average today,’ Dimpfl said of her top player. ‘Believe it or not, she can play a lot better.’
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