El Camino Real, Sylmar Fall in Title Quests

The El Camino Real and Sylmar high girls’ volleyball teams both failed in their quest for maiden City Section titles at the 4-A and 3-A division finals Saturday night at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

El Camino was defeated in the 4-A final by Palisades High, which won its ninth title and second consecutive championship, 15-3, 15-10, 7-15, 15-12. Sylmar lost to Marshall in the 3-A final, 15-12, 16-14, 15-1.

Sylmar (15-2) had gone to the playoffs for the first time in 1989, losing in the first round. El Camino (14-1) twice had advanced to the semifinal. Palisades (19-0) finished off the second-ranked Conquistadores as it had Chatsworth in the semifinal Wednesday, with aggressive hitting and swarming defense.

“They came back really well,” El Camino coach Lori Chandler said. “(Wendy Hromadka) is very tough. We tried to neutralize her as much as possible.”

The match was also notable as it was the final one for Palisades under Coach Gayle Van Meter, who leaves Palisades with a 326-23 record. “I’m OK right now, but maybe in June (I’ll miss it),” Van Meter said.

The 3-A final was just as hard fought. Marshall and Sylmar (15-2) had met on two other occasions during the season, with Marshall (8-5) sweeping all three games each time.

But Saturday night, it appeared the Spartans might finally have their revenge. Despite beginning the match without starters Griselda Vasquez and Archie Villavert, who were at Occidental College competing in an academic decathlon, the Spartans stayed close throughout the first two games.

“I don’t think it was fair at all,” Villavert said. “They expect us to be great students and great athletes. They should give us some consideration for that.”

The Barristers took an 11-4 lead in the first game behind Spartan errors and the play of junior outside hitter Kathy Ham. With the return of Villavert and Vasquez, the Spartans fought back to trail, 12-13, but a hitting error and a Korina Jocson kill ended the game.

Sylmar played steadily in the second game, keeping the ball in play and earning 13 of its 14 points on Marshall hitting errors. But, with the score tied, 14-14, Sylmar committed two errors to end the game.

Sylmar passed poorly in the third game while Ham and left-handed Lyndee Park dominated at the net. Ham had a match-high 11 kills and Park had seven.

“The second game was the pivotal game,” Sylmar Coach Bob Thomson said. “When we lost it, it took a lot out of us.”

Vasquez, the Pac-8 Conference and East Valley League most valuable player, and Michelle Solano led the Spartans with three kills each.