They’ve Got Talent, an Attitude : Palisades Volleyball Team Maintains Tradition: Winning

The tradition of outstanding boys’ volleyball teams at Palisades High School lives, for better or worse. Or perhaps, for better and worse.

The players are better, possibly the most talented group ever to play at the school. “The kind of team that comes along once every 10 or 15 years or so,” is how Westchester Coach Errol Morigaki assesses the Dolphins of 1986.

“Probably the best high school team in the nation,” added Coach Neal Newman of L.A. University.

The worse is what their own coach, Howard Enstedt, has had to deal with. Spoiled? Cocky? Individuals known to put themselves before the team? Those are also the ’86 Dolphins.

But do people mind? If anything, they’ve come to expect it at Palisades, no matter what year it is.

“They think very highly of themselves,” said Enstedt, now in his 23rd year as coach. “And it’s not totally uncalled for. Most all of their parents are very successful and they have been raised in very comfortable environments. Then, they come into our program and right away they’re with successful people again.

“I don’t like that kind of display where they show their cockiness. If some other kid (on the opposition) is embarrassed by it, it really embarrasses me.

“These kids know they are good, they have demonstrated it and the season has proved them out. I don’t want to take that attitude away. I’d rather let it go a little and have to ask them not to act like a horse’s rear than clamp down too much and have it affect their play.”

Judging by the year’s results, it seems that the only people who can affect the Dolphins’ play are the Dolphins themselves. Dominating the competition can have its drawbacks--for this group, unmotivated and often sloppy in practices. That problem is even more prevalent now, Enstedt says, what with the end of the season coming fast and the end of high school for the seniors about a month away.

Turned lose on the court, though, they are all but untouchable. Forcing Enstedt to put his starters back in rather than lose a game is a moral victory of sorts for opposing teams but few have managed even that.

The Dolphins, who have won six City titles since volleyball became sanctioned in 1974, are 34-0-1 this season. They were tied in a two-game match with El Toro of the Southern Section in the Palisades Tournament in mid-April. In 79 tries, University is the only other team to win so much as a game.

It would take a major upset to deny Palisades City title No. 7 next Friday at Pepperdine, so Enstedt is looking for a challenge to keep the Dolphins sharp for the state tournament. One possibility is a postseason match against a team of Orange County all-stars.

Until then, Palisades will have to be content with a few laughs and a little exercise at the expense of schools closer to home.

Said senior outside hitter Kent Steffes: “The second-best team around is our second team.”

“I think we would do well against some of the lower college teams. Not a USC or a UCLA, but a Loyola Marymount or a Northridge.”

Senior middle blocker Kevin Shepard said: “When we play in a City match, we’re all pretty much laughing. I might get some people mad at me by saying that, but it’s the truth.”

Senior outside hitter J.B. Saunders added: “Everyone gets big heads and then we don’t want to practice. We get on a certain feeling and then our level of intensity goes down.”

A closer look at these talented young athletes, with comments by Enstedt:

--Adam Unger, 6-foot 1-inch senior: “He sets as well from the right side as anyone I’ve ever had.” --Chris Pennell, 6-1 senior: “Then again this kid makes us go when we need it most. He is very charismatic, he’s our glue. In the last five or six years, he has had the most enthusiasm on the court of anyone I’ve had.”

--Ryan O’Hara, a 6-0 1/2 junior, the only nonsenior in the starting lineup: “He knows more about the game than any kid I’ve ever had here. A fine, fine setter.”

--Steffes, a 6-3 1/2 senior: “I have more confidence in Steffes than any other kid I’ve ever had. If I had to have a point or a block, he is the one I want to look to. I’ve never had a person I could say that about before.”

--Saunders, 6-2 1/2: Most valuable player in two of the three tournaments Palisades has played in this year. “An awesome hitter on most all sets, whether the ball is right on or too far to one side or the the other.” His brother, Dave, played at the school in the late 1970s and then on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.

--Shepard, 6-2 1/2: “He might be the best guy out there, as far as what he does and what he contributes to the team.” Plays high-competition beach volleyball in Hawaii during the summer with his stepfather, Tom Selleck, and competes for the Dolphin swim team in his spare time. Then, of course, there is Enstedt.

Chatsworth Coach Steve Berk said: “If not for Howard Enstedt and the Palisades volleyball program, none of us would work as hard as we do, if only to catch him. He has set the standards all these years. My biggest thrill was finally winning a game from him in 1981, after six years of trying.”

Since five of Palisades’ six starters will be gone next season, the makeup of the team will be considerably different. What doesn’t figure to change is the Palisades attitude, which has been around since the late 60s.

The 1969 team’s six starters--Chris Marlowe, Bill Bekins, Randy Stevenson, Jeff Jacobs, Bob Leonard and Wayne Gracey--all went on to become college All-Americans, and through the years there have been such other stars as Jerry Flattery, Gerry Escallier and Tim Dolan in ‘72; Randy Stoklos and Dave Saunders in ‘78, and Ricci Luyties and Roger Clark in 1980.

Marlowe, who went on to captain the 1984 U.S. Olympic team and now does television work, has seen the Palisades cockiness for almost 20 years as a player and a fan. What stands out most in his mind, however, is an unexpected greeting he got earlier this season.

“I was doing a game for Prime Ticket and this kid who I have never seen before comes up and starts pumping me,” he recalled. “He asked me if I was playing in the alumni game.

“I said I didn’t know when it was or where it was or anything like that. So he looks at me and says, ‘What’s the matter, afraid you’re going to lose?’

I said, ‘Wait a minute, kid. What’s your name?’ He shakes my hand and says he is Adam Unger.

“After that, I say, ‘Damn right I’ll be there.’

“So we show up and we killed them, beat them three straight. Everyone needs a little humility every now and then.”

Prep Notes The Southern Section volleyball finals will be played tonight at Marina High School in Huntington Beach. Dana Hills (17-2,)will play Huntington Beach Edison (18-1) in the 4-A game at 8 p.m., and defending champion Loyola (17-2) will play Brentwood (11-8) in the 3-A game at 6. Loyola is led by Parker Blackman, 1985 3-A player of the year who has signed with Stanford, and Tom Parr, who will attend Pepperdine, and Mike Griswold. The Cubs will be looking for their third title in four years against a Brentwood team that, according to Coach Steve Saeta, is a dark horse in the playoffs. The Eagles were 8-8 at the end of the regular season in the tough Central League, but led by seniors Bobby Benfield, Pat Maloney, David Pettker and William Cockrum defeated second-seeded Whittier La Serna and third-seeded South Pasadena in the playoffs.