CITY SECTION VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Palisades Beats Granada Hills for 4-A Title

Granada Hills High’s volleyball team lost for the third time this season against Palisades, falling Friday night in the City Section 4-A Division championship at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Palisades defeated Granada Hills 15-12, 15-3, 16-18, 15-13.

It was the Dolphins’ eighth title in 17 seasons and 12th appearance in the title match during that time. It was the first appearance for Granada Hills in a 4-A final.

“They are an intimidating team and I think those two times we played them (in a scrimmage and the Palisades tournament) was a factor,” said Granada Hills outside hitter Danny Asaoka, who had a match-high 24 kills.

“We didn’t have any momentum and couldn’t get in to the flow. It took us a while to get our confidence. We played well at the end and have nothing to be ashamed of.”

In the City Section 3-A championship match, Venice defeated Van Nuys, 15-9, 15-13, 17-15.

Morgan Chapman and Erik Pichel led top-seeded Palisades (17-1) with 17 and 15 kills. Bobby Curtis had 15 kills and Josh Henderson had 49 assists for third-seeded Granada Hills (15-2).

Seemingly beaten in the third game, Granada Hills rallied from a 9-2 deficit. The Highlanders closed to 14-9 and withstood five match points to force a fourth game.

Granada Hills tied the score at 14-14, but Palisades took a 15-14 lead on a kill by Chapman, but Ray Kim had two kills and Curtis another to keep the Highlanders alive.

An Asaoka spike staved off another match point with Palisades leading, 16-15. Granada Hills scored three consecutive points, two coming on Palisades hitting errors to emerge with an 18-16 victory.

Granada Hills fell behind 7-3 in the fourth game and tied the score at 13-13 before falling.

“We were trying too hard and made little mistakes,” Granada Hills Coach Tom Harp said. “We found a little spark in the third and fourth games and had them in reach. We proved we could be competitive.”

Palisades built leads of 5-0 and 11-2 in the second game. The Dolphins broke a 11-11 tie to win the first game.

John Tripp, along with the 10 other seniors on the Venice High volleyball team, was a little late to his prom after making a detour to Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday night.

However, there were no complaints for the delay from Tripp or his teammates as Venice defeated Van Nuys in the 3-A championship.

“(The prom) has already started, but the limousines are waiting outside and we have our tuxedos with us,” said Tripp, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter who had a match-high 26 kills, including 13 in the third game.