Photos by Steve Galluzzo
Dolphins’ Girls Tennis, Golf and Volleyball Teams Win City Championships Days Apart
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
No school in the history of the City Section has more championships to its credit than Palisades and over a nine-day span it added three more as the girls tennis, golf and volleyball squads all raised trophies—proof that not even a devastating wildfire that damaged their campus and destroyed many of their homes could keep the Dolphins from doing what they have always done best: win.
Palisades’ latest surge of “girl power” began October 30 at Balboa Sports Center, where the tennis team clained its 30th City crown with a 25 to 4.5 victory over defending champion Granada Hills in the teams’ annual Open Division finals clash.
This time, the top-seeded Dolphins swept all seven matches in the first rotation of the round robin format to build a commanding lead. The teams have combined to win the last 24 upper division titles going back to 2002 and have met in 14 of the last 15 finals.
“There’s mutual respect… it’s always us and them,” said head coach Bud Kling, who has piloted the girls to 22 titles since 1985 and has also won 32 with the boys since 1979 for a mind-boggling total of 54. He has announced he is stepping down after the boys season in the spring.
Anne Kelly and Nicole Nguyen swept their three sets at No. 1 doubles and earned the title-clinching point while fellow seniors Ella Engel and Anais Israels swept 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, at the No. 2 position, duplicating their feat in the semifinals against El Camino Real two days earlier.
“We wanted it and we got it,” said Engel, who shares a special bond with her partner. “It’s my serving and her volleys… we’re yin and yang, peanut butter and jelly. We started clicking at the San Diego tournament and we’ve been on fire ever since.”
Shaya Jovanovic and Maria Kandinova swept their three sets at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots before being subbed out.
Seven days later and right across the street, the golf team continued its own dynasty with a 64-stroke triumph over Granada Hills in the City final at Balboa Golf Course. It was the Dolphins’ fifth consecutive title, one short of the section record. Freshman Lauren Song was third individually with a three-over par 75. Sylar Monahan was fourth with a 79, Ella Shuman (84) was seventh and Chloe Suh (85) was eighth.
Reclaiming its standard-bearer status as Palisades’ winningest girls program, volleyball collected City crown No. 31 and its first in five years with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 sweep of Venice in Friday night’s Open Division finale at LA Southwest College.
It marked the fifth meeting this season between the Western League rivals (Venice had taken three of the prior four) and it came after the second-seeded Dolphins (35-7) had posted four-set victories over No. 7 Granada Hills in the quarterfinals and No. 6 Taft in the semifinals, both at Brentwood.
Tulah Block ended the first set with her second kill and ended the match with her seventh, setting off a wild celebration.
“I just knew I had to do it for the team,” the senior outside hitter said. “I’m so proud of everyone.”
Anabelle Redaelli pounded a match-high 13 kills to counter Gondoliers top hitter Sam Lortie.
Venice built a 13-7 lead in the third set but Palisades answered with a 14-0 run behind accurate serving by Phoebe Messiha.
“Our slogan all year was ‘no gym, no problem,” senior libero Lucy Neilson said.
Palisades earned the 10th seed in the SoCal Regional Division II playoffs and traveled to No. 7 Carlsbad (the San Diego Section Division I runner-up) in the first round Tuesday night.
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