El Camino Falls to Palisades in City Semifinal

The girls volleyball teams at El Camino Real High and Palisades easily won their leagues this season.

But El Camino had more trouble Wednesday night in its City 4-A semifinal match.

Palisades, which has won 10 of the last 11 City 4-A titles, had little trouble beating El Camino, 15-6, 15-3, 15-5 at Venice High.

Shelly Creal’s nine digs and Kelly Kasparek’s hitting and blocking helped El Camino overcome its poor performance.

“I’m surprised they hustled that much,” Palisades Coach Gayle Van Meter said. “They really extended us.”

El Camino weathered several extensive rallies, but middle blockers Pia Svenson and Julie Foster gave Palisades put-away power with a match-high 13 and 9 kills, respectively.

After losing the first two games, El Camino took a 2-0 lead in the third. Palisades then scored 11 unanswered points before two Svenson ace serves and an El Camino passing error ended the match.

“You can’t take anything away from Palisades,” El Camino Coach Lori Chandler said. “But it was not one of our greatest matches. Our serving was not as accurate as we needed to win and a lot of balls were falling in between girls.”

“Palisades is very experienced. You get here and it’s bam, bam, bam.”

Kasparek, however, blocked effectively, leaving the Palisades offense temporarily stymied.

“Kelly blocked very well,” Chandler said. “When we’ve really needed her, she’s always been there. She never gives anything less than 100 percent.”

Palisades is now 16-2, and El Camino Real dropped to 12-2.

University def. Chatsworth, 15-6, 15-10, 15-8--Diedre Runnette had a match-high 10 kills and six blocks for University (14-2) in the City 4-A semifinal at Venice High. Elizabeth Darcey had five kills and Wendy Lukas had three for Chatsworth (14-2).

Chatsworth Coach Bob Lofrano said University’s aggressive serving kept the Chancellors off balance.

“We didn’t attack at all tonight,” he said. “They took us out of what we do best, and that’s the best we’ve played. That’s what happens when you leave the Valley.”

A Valley school has never advanced to the City 4-A final.