Pali High Volleyball Seeded No. 1

The Los Angeles City Section released the girls volleyball playoff brackets Monday night and, as expected, was awarded the No. 1 seed in Division 2.

The champion Dolphins have a first-round bye on Thursday and will host either 16th-seeded Canoga Park or 17th-seeded Arleta in the second round Monday at 7 p.m. at the Pali High gym. Also receiving first-round byes were No. 2 Taft, No. 3 Maywood, No. 4 Eagle Rock, No. 5 Venice, No. 6 Fairfax, No. 7 University and No. 8 Panorama.

Westchester, seeded No. 14, is the fifth team from the Western League to make the Division 2 draw and will host No. 19 Crenshaw in the first round Thursday. Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, which finished in the Western League cellar, is seeded fifth in the Small Schools Division and hosts Fulton in the first round Monday night.

Palisades (18-12) did not drop a set in league competition and is undefeated against City opponents this season. The Dolphins sharpened up for the playoff run by participating in the last weekend. Seeded 26th out of 32 teams, they lost Friday to Valencia, Long Beach Poly and Peninsula in pool play. They rebounded to sweep El Segundo in their first match Saturday, then lost to Oxnard and Flintridge Sacred Heart.

The Dolphins are trying to win their second consecutive Division 2 title, having swept Sun Valley Poly in the finals last season. Two years ago, Palisades was upset by Taft in the semifinals. The Toreadors (15-17-3) finished third in the West Valley League behind co-champions El Camino Real and Granada Hills, the top two seeds in the Division 1 bracket.  

Palisades is piloted by last fall's Division 2 Coach of the Year (who also guided the boys squad to the City finals in the spring), 2010 Player of the Year and first-team All-City selection .

Should seedings hold, Palisades would host Panorama in the quarterfinals and the winner between league archrival Venice and Northern League champion Eagle Rock in the semifinals Nov. 15. The championship match is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, at in Los Angeles. 

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