Harp Gives Palisades Final Edge

Granada Hills High is not in the City Section 4-A Division boys’ volleyball championship, but Coach Tom Harp has a good idea who will win the match Friday between Palisades and Taft.

Granada Hills lost to both teams this season, including a 15-1, 15-5, 15-11 setback to top-seeded Palisades in a quarterfinal last week.

The Highlanders fell to Taft twice during Northwest Valley Conference play: 15-8, 15-13, 15-5, on March 26 and 15-9, 15-12, 16-14 on April 23.

Harp, who coached Granada Hills to the 4-A title last season, sees a lot of positives in Palisades (16-0), which plays second-seeded Taft (15-0) at 8 p.m. at Cal State Northridge.

“I would say Pali is the favorite based on we were able to play Taft fairly close, even though we weren’t able to take a game off them,” Harp said. “Pali kind of overwhelmed us. They beat us a lot worse than Taft did.

“If you go around their lineup, their setter [Rob Neilson] is one of the best high school setters I’ve ever seen. Then they have five other guys who can hit the ball, block the ball and play good defense. Pali is taller across the board than Taft and they’ve got that experience factor being in the finals last year. And they probably have more club players than Taft does.”

Can Taft counter with powerful opposite hitter Joe Nargi?

“I don’t think one guy is going to carry the match for Taft,” Harp said. “All of their guys are going to have to play one of the best matches they’ve played. But then again, Palisades is like anybody else. If you can get them to make mistakes, anything can happen.”