Palisades KOs Harvard in 5 in Volleyball

Harvard-Westlake and Palisades highs, two boys’ volleyball heavyweights, slugged it out for five games Thursday night at Harvard.

And after the match had ended, Palisades was left standing with a 10-15, 12-15, 15-8, 15-6, 16-14 nonleague victory.

Palisades, the eight-time defending City Section 4-A Division champion, used strong serving during the middle of the match to recover from a 2-0 deficit in games and relied on its experience down the stretch to outlast the Wolverines, the 1991 Southern Section 3-A Division champions.

Ahead, 13-10, in the final game, Harvard (3-2) self-destructed with three service errors. And Palisades (4-0) showed a champion’s tenacity and tied the score, 14-14.

Bart Rachmil ended the match with two kills.

“We kept siding out,” Palisades captain John Lee said. “That was the key.”

Lee sparked a comeback in the third and fourth games with service runs of four and five points. Colin Wellman added a five-point burst in game three and Rachmil scored five in a row in game four as the Dolphins repeatedly broke down the Wolverines’ passing attack.

Harvard, the top-ranked team in the 3-A, roared out of the gate behind the hitting of middle blockers Steve Keck and Seth Rodsky and won the first two games.

Their dominance opened up the outside for Chris Hopkins and Matt Sebree to rack up kills early on.

“Our (middle blockers) were up quick and working well,” Harvard assistant Steve Tran said. “That gave our outside hitters a chance to get one-on-one blocking.”

But the Wolverine attack was grounded for large chunks of time the rest of the way.

“Palisades just stayed consistent,” Tran said. “We are a young team and we’re still trying to get to know each other better.”