Palihi Tennis Serves Up Playoff Shutout

It's not supposed to be this easy in the playoffs.

Unless, of course, it's the , which has made the postseason its personal playground over the last few seasons.

The top-seeded Dolphins are overwhelming favorites to win their third consecutive City Section championship and their 29 1/2 to zero quarterfinal demolition of eighth-seeded North Hollywood on Friday afternoon at the showed just how wide the gap is between them and their competition.

Even , who has witnessed more than his share of wipeouts in his 33 years as head coach, doesn't recall too many shutouts in the round robin format used for the playoffs.

"It's pretty rare,"he admitted. "Usually a team will have one really strong singles player who can get them a few points."

Palisades didn't go out of its way to make a statement, it was simply a byproduct of the Dolphins doing what they have done all season: dominate the opposition.

"This sends a message to the rest of the City that we're still the team to beat," said Kling, whose team had a bye in Wednesday's first round. "It's a good way to open the playoffs, but I don't expect scores like this all the way through."

The Dolphins not only notched every available point, but did so in just over an hour and a half. They dropped only eight games in 16 singles sets and just six games in 12 doubles sets while cruising to their seventh consecutive playoff win dating back to 2009.

"It was good [to win easily], but in a way it was bad," said Palihi sophomore , who swept 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. "I'm not sure how much we gained from it. I had a couple of deuce games but I don't think I faced a break point. My left wrist was hurting so I couldn't use my two-handed backhand. I was mostly just slicing it."

North Hollywood, which went undefeated in the East Valley League, had lost only one match in the regular season--a 4-3 defeat to Van Nuys. The Huskies (12-2) had eliminated No. 9 Carson in the first round, but were taking a major step up Friday and, with six freshmen in the lineup, simply could not match Palisades' depth.

On Friday, the Huskies (12-2) were taking a major step up and, with six freshmen in the lineup, could not match Palisades' depth.

Palisades (17-4) advances to the semifinals next Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Palisades Tennis Center, where it will host No. 4 El Camino Real, a 23 1/2 to 6 winner Friday over No. 5 Van Nuys. The championship division final is next Thursday at 1 p.m. at  in Encino.

CITY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION QUARTERFINALS

Palisades 29 1/2, North Hollywood 0

SINGLES

Robbie Bellamy, Palisades, d. Steven Zheng, 6-0; d. Zach Lipez, 6-0; d. Max Bowen, 6-2; d. William Chang, 6-0. Oliver Thornton, Palisades, d. Zheng, 6-1; d. Lipez, 6-0; d. Bowen, 6-0; d. Chang, 6-0. Max Licona, Palisades, d. Zheng, 6-2; d. Lipez, 6-1; d. Bowen, 6-1; d. Chang, 6-1. Joe Silvers, Palisades, d. Zheng, 6-0; d. Lipez, 6-0; d. Bowen, 6-0; d. Chang, 6-0.

DOUBLES

Spencer Pekar-Sam Catanzaro, Palisades, d. Marous Liou-Sam Xu, 6-1; d. Timothy Lee-Daniel Shumetz, 6-1; d. Peter Wu-Kenneth Ng, 6-1. Robert Silvers-Trinity Thornton, Palisades, d. Liou-Xu, 6-0; d. Lee-Shumetz, 6-0; d. Wu-Ng, 6-1. Myles Rogers-Halliday-Cody Schiffer, Palisades, d. Liou-Xu, 6-2; d. Lee-Shumetz, 6-0; d. Wu-Ng, 6-0. 

Records: North Hollywood 12-2; Palisades 17-4.