Palisades Claims 31st City Section Girls’ Volleyball Championship,Defeats Venice
Southwest College – in a highly anticipated matchup between rivals,the Palisades Dolphins defeated the Venice Gondoliers in straight sets (25-23,25-18,25-18) Friday night to win the City section Open Division girls’ volleyball championship. The victory marks the 31st section title for Palisades, a program with a dominant history in the top division, and their first as 2020 – a season delayed until spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The second-seeded Dolphins (35-7) showcased their strength against the top-seeded Gondoliers (32-11) in their fifth meeting of the season. A final, decisive kill by Tulah Block sealed the win, sparking a celebratory rush from the Palisades bench.
“going up for that kill I just knew I had to do it for the team,” Block saeid. “I’m so proud of the whole team especially with everything we went through and are still going through after the fire and not having a gym. We even had to go the beach to practice one day.”
Both teams navigated a challenging path to the final, overcoming West Valley League opponents. Palisades defeated Granada Hills and defending Open Division champion Taft, while Venice eliminated Chatsworth and El Camino Real. venice previously won city titles in Division II (2012), Division I (2016), and the Open Division (2021).
The rivalry between Palisades and venice has been intense this season, with Venice winning two tournament matches and claiming first place in the Western League standings after a five-set victory over Palisades on September 25th, following an earlier sweep by Palisades on August 28th. A surprising five-set loss to University also impacted the league standings.
despite the challenges, including a lack of consistent gym access due to a fire, palisades maintained a resilient attitude. ”Our slogan all year was ‘no gym, no problem,” senior libero Lucy Neilson said. “Today we came with a ‘leave it all out there’ mentality.”
Palisades demonstrated this determination throughout the match, rallying from a 19-16 deficit to win the first set and mounting a 14-point run in the third set fueled by Phoebe Messiha’s serving. Anabelle Redaelli led the Dolphins’ attack with a match-high 13 kills, while Samantha Lortie (11 kills) and Gaia Adeseun-Williams (8 kills) paced Venice.
“Winning it this season is special given the obvious circumstances and it had to be against Venice,” Neilson added.”It’s vital for our program as we hadn’t won it in a few years and that’s our goal every year.”
In earlier action, Legacy defeated Sotomayor in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-12) to claim the Division V championship. Legacy finished the season with a 10-15 record, while Sotomayor ended at 12-12. Legacy libero Yahaira Ramirez highlighted the team’s perseverance, stating, “We’re here as we pushed for it. not all teams are going to have a 100 percent win streak. I love my position. I love to stand out. I save my team a lot of points.”
