A volleyball tradition is upheld at Palisades

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No team has dominated City Section girls’ volleyball like Palisades. Between 1973 and 1993, the Dolphins won 19 section titles, including 14 in a row.

The current crop of Dolphin seniors were in danger of being the first Palisades class to not win at least one title. They avoided that dubious honor, however, when they beat Venice, 3-0, Saturday for their first City championship since 2003 and the program’s 24th overall.

‘It’s something we talk about all the time,’ said Palisades Coach Chris Forrest, when asked about the team’s championship tradition. ‘We feel if you play four years at Palisades, you’re going to win a title. This group, if it hadn’t won tonight, would have broken the streak of every class winning at least one title [since 1973]. But they kept the streak going.’

Forrest will lose outside hitter Alex Lunder to graduation, but next year he can build around junior outside hitter Laura Goldsmith. ‘I’m very happy about that,’ the coach said. ‘She didn’t play to her best tonight, but Laura really kept the team going in the first half of the season when Alex was hurt.’

-- Mike Terry

-- Image from www.brandwa.com