VOLLEYBALL : Roosevelt Comes Up Short in 4-A Final

After upsetting top-seeded Granada Hills in the semifinals, the Roosevelt boys’ team appeared ready to knock off the most successful team in local volleyball in the City Section 4-A championship Friday night.

It looked good at the start, with the Roughriders taking a 6-0 lead in the first game against eight-time City 4-A champion Palisades. But the Roughriders proved to be too small for the Dolphins, who start four players who are 6-3 or taller.

Palisades defeated Roosevelt, 15-7, 15-1, 11-15, 15-9, Friday to win their ninth title Friday at Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse.

“We’ve seen a lot of big guys,” Roosevelt Coach Kenji Maki said. “Our side wasn’t clicking. We couldn’t pass the ball very well. Maybe it was their big size that did it.”

Trailing 7-1, the Dolphins scored the next 14 points to win the first game. James Turner, a 6-8 middle blocker, had 19 kills, including eight in the first game. Colin Wellman, a 6-5 outside hitter, had 27 kills and two blocks.

The Dolphins (13-5) jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the second game before Geovanni Barrajas served an ace for Roosevelt’s only point.

The Roughriders (14-3) made a rotation change in the third game with Richard Castellano lining up across from Turner. Castellano had five of his 10 kills in the third game and Roosevelt mounted a comeback. With the score tied, 10-10, Castellano had three kills to give the Roughriders their only win.

But the Dolphins regained their composure with the score tied 2-2 in the fourth game and were never threatened after scoring four consecutive points.

Roosevelt advanced to the finals by defeating top-seeded Granada Hills Tuesday, 15-8, 15-5, 15-10. The victory avenged a loss in three games to the Highlanders in the season’s opening match.

The Roughriders played with intensity and confidence Tuesday, although Roosevelt made several mistakes in the opening of the third game and fell behind, 8-0. Except for that stretch, however, Roosevelt was steady and efficient and was never seriously challenged.

Roosevelt started slowly in the first game, falling behind, 6-3, but then scored 10 consecutive points to put the game out of reach. Game two was even more one-sided. Richard Castellano led the Roughriders with eight kills and scored three of the games final six points. He finished with a team-high 13 kills and nine blocks.

Sports correspondent Kennedy Cosgrove contributed to this report.