Tennis Renews Old Rivalry

Palisades Dominates Intersectional Match Against Depleted Brentwood

Prior to last week it had been 10 years since Palisades and Brentwood had met in a high school tennis match–and the Dolphins made sure their hosts would remember this latest visit. Missing half of its lineup due to spring break’including top player and Palisadian Walker Kehrer–Brentwood was no match for perhaps the best team in the City Section. The Eagles, Southern Section Division III finalists last year, brought only eight players to the court and had to forfeit three sets at No. 3 singles. As a result, Palisades won 14-4, adding evidence to its case for the top seed when the City playoffs begin in May. “I’m disappointed Brentwood doesn’t have its best players today but this will still count as a quality win against a very highly-regarded opponent,” Pali Coach Bud Kling said. “We should be even better next year so that should be a great match if both teams are at full strength.” As the visiting team in the intersectional match Palisades had to adjust to a round robin instead of the City’s customary head-to-head format, but the Dolphins would have dominated no matter what scoring system was used. Once Palisades built an insurmountable lead Kling subbed out his starters for the third rotation. “Palisades is very good and I wish were were able to give them a little better competition,” Brentwood Coach Lee Herzog said. “Unfortunately, all of our best guys are off playing junior tournaments.” On Monday, the Dolphins returned to straight-up scoring and swept Fairfax, 7-0, at the Palisades Tennis Center. Brett Allchorn won, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 1 singles, Oliver Thornton won, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2, Trinity Thornton won, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 3 and Jeremy Shore won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. In doubles, Kyung Choi and Matt Goodman won, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 1; Spencer Lewin and Ren Neilsen won, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2 and Che Borja teamed with Ali Yazdi to win, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 3. Spikers Reach Venice Semis Still flying high from its five-game victory over Western League rival Venice two weeks ago, the Palisades High varsity volleyball team came to last Saturday’s Venice Tournament determined to prove that victory was no fluke. Unfortunately, the Dolphins never got the chance. Palisades fell in the semifinals to Sylmar, 26-24, then watched the Spartans beat the host Gondoliers 25-19 in the championship game. The 21-team field comprised of all City teams but did not include three of the West Valley League’s strongest teams–Taft, Granada Hills and Chatsworth. The Dolphins went 3-0-1 in pool play, sweeping Westchester (25-6, 25-16), Marshall (25-22, 25-18) and Reseda (25-11, 25-16) before splitting games with Cleveland (26-27, 25-15). Palisades made easy work of Jordan in the quarterfinals to set up the best game of the tournament–the Dolphins’ gut-wrenching semifinal showdown with Sylmar. Dolphins’ senior Scott Vegas made the All-Tournament team. Softball Rebounding from their 8-0 home loss to Venice on March 24, the Dolphins took to the road and took it to Western League rivals Hamilton and Fairfax. Palisades exploded for four runs in the fifth inning and four more in the seventh to beat the Yankees, 11-3, last Wednesday. The hit parade continued Monday in a 15-4 rout of Fairfax.