Alex Laita leads Palisades to City title over Taft
Everyone in the City Section had been waiting for Alex Laita to return from a knee injury to see what kind of effect she would have for the Palisades girls’ volleyball team. Last season’s City player of the year was injured in the first match of the year, then disappeared while trying to get healthy.
Well, she returned with a vengeance in the Open Division playoffs, and her serving and hitting helped the Dolphins claim their record 30th City title on Saturday night with a 26-24, 25-14, 8-25, 25-23 victory over Taft at Birmingham.
Bound for Oregon, the 6-foot-1 senior returned for the regular-season finale and has been getting into shape. When Palisades upset No. 1-seeded Granada Hills in a five-set comeback, the path had been cleared for coach Carlos Gray to win his third title in six years.
Laita, who finished with 22 kills, had eight kills in the fourth set alone.
San Pedro won the Division I championship with a 25-16, 25-20, 15-25, 25-19 win over El Camino Real. In Division II, Elizabeth won its 10th overall title with a 25-11, 25-15, 25-17 win over Central City. In Division III, Birmingham defeated Maywood CES 25-12, 25-20, 25-23.
Twitter: @latsondheimer
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