Volleyball Sweeps Kennedy in Playoff Opener

Wins for the Palisades High boys volleyball team are easy as one-two-three this season and that trend continued in the second round of the City Section Division I playoffs Tuesday night.

The second-seeded Dolphins needed a little over an hour to dispatch 15th-seeded Kennedy of Granada Hills, 25-15, 25-14, 25-13, and keep alive their astonishing streak of dominance. Each of Palisades' 14 wins in best-of-five set matches has been a sweep.

"Now that we everyone back, our bench is really deep," Coach Chris Forrest said. "It doesn't matter what rotation we're in, we have attackers in all three areas of the net."

Senior opposite hitter and co-captain Denton Van Duzer led the way with 14 kills and finished with an impressive .670 attack percentage. Junior outside hitter and fellow captain Alex Frapech served four aces and senior libero/outside hitter Isaac Margulies had 12 digs. 

Palisades (22-5-2) jumped to early leads in each set and never looked back. Junior outside hitter Tyler Steil ended the match with a crosscourt kill.   

"We're trying to come together as a team," said Van Duzer, who tore ligaments in his right ankle during the La Jolla BCI Tournament the last weekend in March--an injury that sidelined him for a month and a half. "I've only really been back for about a week and a half, so I've been working hard in practice."

The Dolphins will host seventh-seeded Carson in the quarterfinals Thursday at 7 p.m. and Palisades figures to have a psychological advantage, having swept the Colts in the season opener for both schools.

Looming in the semifinals is a potential matchup against third-seeded Sun Valley Poly, but what the Dolphins really want is another crack at top-seeded Granada Hills. The Highlanders beat Palisades in four sets March 7, but the Dolphins were missing Frapech and Chance Earnest.

"We'd only had a few practices the last time we played them," Forrest said of the anticipated championship showdown. "This time, they have to beat us."

Losing to Taft 17-15 in the fifth set of the Division I final last spring has motivated the Dolphins to get back to the championship round and win it. 

"Practices have been tough--I've pushed them hard, but Jack [Scharf], Denton [Van Duzer], Conor [Nasch] and Alex [Frapech]... they've been there before. None of those guys want to lose again."

Van Duzer honed his skills playing club volleyball for five years, one with the Pacific Palisades Volleyball Club, one with Riptides in the South Bay and three with Santa Monica Surf. He admitted coming up short last year has fueled the team's fire.

"It makes us want to win even more," he said. "The No. 2 seed is the best we could've gotten, but if we play [Granada Hills] again, they'll have to beat us."