Pali High Volleyball Spikes Westchester

Having finally wrapped up its schedule, the girls volleyball team heads south to the Redondo Varsity Power Classic this weekend in desperate need of something it hasn't gotten in awhile: competition.

The Dolphins have chugged through league play like a runaway locomotive and Wednesday's finale at Westchester was no different. The Comets were fired up for 'Senior Day' but could not derail the Palisades express, falling 25-5, 25-10, 25-9 in less than 40 minutes. 

The closest any team came to taking a set off the Dolphins in league play was their archrival Venice, which pushed Palisades to 26-24 in the third set of the teams' second meeting Oct. 17. Counting a nonleague match against San Pedro, Coach Chris Forrest's squad has won 36 straight sets dating back to a 2-1 loss to Clovis East in its final match of the on Sept. 24.

"The biggest thing to guard against is overconfidence," Forrest said. "We're shooting for the No. 1 seed in the City [Division 2] playoffs and I suspect the other teams in the top four will be Venice, Taft and Eagle Rock."

Molly Kornfeind was unstoppable Wednesday against the Comets, finishing with nine kills, six digs and 11 aces, including 10 in the first set alone. Katie Kaufman added seven kills and Meghan Middleton was four-for-four on spike attempts for the Dolphins, who served 22 aces total.

"We knew coming into the match it would be tough," Comets Coach Daryl Adams said. "They're all club players who have been playing since they were kids while most of my girls run track and just play volleyball to keep in shape. Our strategy was to stick to the basics, track the ball and get into their heads, but they've got strong serving and took it to us."

Westchester (4-9 overall, 3-9 in league) has one of the best middle blockers in the league in 6-foot-1 junior Nia Faulkner, but she was limited to just five kills against the Dolphins, who knew where she was on the floor at all times and put at least two blockers up.

"Chris is a very good coach and he's always loaded with talent," Adams said of his counterpart. "I noticed that Palisades can get rattled. If you block a few balls you can get to them. On paper, they're the huge favorite. We have the capability to play with them but they have a certain mystique and we haven't been able to shake it."

Just as she was last year, junior outside hitter Shanna Scott figures to be a key ingredient in the Dolphins' pursuit of a second consecutive City title. She missed three weeks after spraining a muscle in her quad but she is healthy and Forrest is easing her back into the lineup. 

"We're used to these quick matches," Scott said just before boarding the bus back to campus. "Everyone's done a really good job and it's good to go into the playoffs with some momentum. We want to go back to the finals and I'm excited for that game."

First up, however, is the Redondo tournament, where the Dolphins (17-7, 12-0) are seeded 26th out of 32 teams. They open pool play Friday afternoon at West Torrance High against Long Beach Poly and follow with matches against Valencia and Peninsula.

The top four seeds are Glendora St. Lucy's, Orange Lutheran, South Torrance and Redondo Union. Teams will be placed into gold, silver and bronze divisions Saturday based on the results of pool play.

"That's why we scheduled this [tournament], so we'd get to play some strong teams right before the playoffs," Forrest said. "We want to prove we're better than what they seeded us."

The seeding meeting is next Tuesday and the playoffs begin next Thursday. Palisades seems to have an ironclad case for the No. 1 seed, having swept every City opponent it has faced this year. Outside of tournaments, the  Dolphins have lost only once—a four-set intersectional defeat to Marlborough.

Palisades lost to Taft in the Division 2 semifinals in 2009 but won the title last year, sweeping Sun Valley Poly in the championship match.

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