Role Players Keep Granada Hills Rolling Into Volleyball Final

When star player Mike DiSimone’s first kill attempt fell harmlessly into the net in the City Section 4-A Division semifinal Tuesday, the rest of the Granada Hills High boys’ volleyball team braced themselves for a long afternoon.

But role players such as Dan Elbert, Victor Chang and Earnest Yun stepped up, and the host Highlanders were able get past Palisades, 15-7, 13-15, 15-8, 15-12, and into the final.

The third-seeded Highlanders will play top-seeded University, a three-game winner over Bell, at Cal State Northridge on Friday.

The victory was a milestone in more ways than one for Granada Hills (15-1). The Highlanders, the top-seeded team in last year’s tournament, were upset in the semifinals by Roosevelt. Palisades was the defending City champion. Most importantly, Granada Hills proved it can win when its best player is not in top form.

DiSimone finished with a team-high 22 kills, but made eight errors and did not find his rhythm until midway through the final game.

“I couldn’t pass, I couldn’t hit, I just didn’t play well,” DiSimone said. “I don’t know why, but I’m just glad Earnest, Dan and everybody stepped up and did so well.”

With DiSimone struggling, Granada Hills turned to Elbert in the first game. Elbert had eight kills in the game and Granada Hills rebounded from a 6-2 deficit to make runs of six and seven points.

Elbert finished with 12 kills.

Mark Muir had four kills to help Granada Hills to a 10-4 lead in the second game, but led by 6-foot-6 middle blocker Gaby Amar, the Dolphins (6-10) won and raced to a 6-1 lead in the third before the Highlanders could recover.

“Going in, I was more nervous for the semifinal than I think I will be for the final,” Muir said. “The butterflies were gone with the first serve, but we had to have the confidence to come back.”

Chang, Granada Hills’ setter, had four dinks in the third game to lead a 14-2 rally after a timeout. Back-row specialist Matt Ham punctuated the run with a service ace on game point.

DiSimone emerged in the final game with nine kills, including the match-clincher.

“Our biggest problem is we have a very slow team,” Palisades Coach Howard Enstedt said. “They weren’t getting to DiSimone quick enough to block and he hit those bombs right into our faces.”

Amar (29 kills) kept Palisades in the last game almost single-handedly.

He had 10 kills without an error. But with Granada Hills leading, 13-10, Amar lost a kill, and a point, when Palisades was called for an illegal rotation, giving the Highlanders a sideout.

The Dolphins upset second-seeded Westchester in the quarterfinals and played much better against Granada Hills than in the first meeting between the teams. Granada Hills defeated Palisades, 15-4 in a one-set match in the Santa Barbara tournament in March.

“It was much tougher than we thought it was going to be but we came through,” Muir said.