Pesky Grant Falls to Steady Palisades in City Volleyball

Grant High made it interesting, but Palisades won a first-round match in the City Championship boys’ volleyball playoffs, 15-13, 14-16, 15-12, 15-12, Tuesday night at Grant.

Rob Nielson delivered 25 kills for 10th-seeded Palisades (10-4), which will play at second-seeded Taft in a quarterfinal on Thursday. Palisades defeated Taft in the City final last year.

Robert Kelly had 10 kills and Krishna Evans had 10 blocks for seventh-seeded Grant (10-4), which won a lengthy second game.

In other boys’ volleyball City Championship playoff openers:

Monroe def. Westchester, 15-0, 15-4, 15-0--Jose Sanchez had seven kills and four blocks for the top-seeded Vikings (14-0) at Monroe.

Taft def. Van Nuys, 15-4, 15-4, 15-13--Mike Gledhill had 16 kills for the second-seeded Toreadors (12-1) at Taft.

Brandon Brown added 11 kills for Taft.

Granada Hills def. Narbonne, 15-7, 15-7, 15-6--Mike Aleman had 16 kills to lead host Granada Hills (11-3).

Derek Saenz added 10 kills for third-seeded Granada Hills, which advanced to the quarterfinals for the 14th consecutive season.

Chatsworth def. Roosevelt 15-10, 16-14, 15-1--David Lurth had 12 kills and nine blocks, and Doug Volkenant added nine kills for the fifth-seeded Chancellors (9-4) at Chatsworth.

Poly def. Huntington Park, 15-11, 15-8, 18-16--Billy Cuevas had 18 kills and Miguel Ramos added 12 to pace host Poly (12-2).

In boys’ volleyball City Division playoff openers:

Kennedy def. King Drew Medical Magnet, 15-4, 15-1, 15-2--Andy Pong had 19 kills and Robbie Smith added eight for host Kennedy (6-8).

Canoga Park def. Verdugo Hills, 15-8, 8-15, 15-6, 15-8--Philip Mramor had 24 kills and Nghiem Dinh added 11 kills for the fourth-seeded Hunters (8-6) at Canoga Park.

BOYS’ TENNIS

Frontier League individual tournament--Nick Weiss of Calabasas won the singles title with a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 victory over teammate Alex Menichini.

Weiss reached the final without losing a game. He defeated Joey Bolter of Malibu, 6-0, 6-0, in the semifinals, and downed Joel Barrett of Nordhoff, 8-0, in the second round. Weiss had a first-round bye.

Brothers Scott and Dave Stewart of Malibu won the doubles title.

Van Nuys 17 1/2, Narbonne 12--Jesse Young won all four of his singles sets for Van Nuys in a City Division semifinal at Meridian’s Tennis L.A.

Van Nuys, which won 13 of the 16 singles sets, will face Hamilton in the City Division championship match Thursday.

Hamilton 19 1/2, Chatsworth 10--The Chancellors won six of nine doubles matches, but managed just one victory in singles and fell to the Yankees in a City Section Division Semifinal at Meridian’s Tennis L.A.

Chatsworth’s No. 1 doubles team, Michael Kim and Josh Lodolo, won all three of its matches, and the Chancellors’ No. 2 unit of Naeem Arastu and Jerry Lu won two of three.

Davey Asao had Chatsworth’s only victory in 16 singles matches--a 7-5 triumph over Jason Gallet.

GOLF

City 4-A League Finals--Hamilton’s Aaron Morris shot a 76 to win the City 4-A League title at Rancho Park Golf Course in Los Angeles.

David Fisher, Brandon Kiel and Evan Lieb of Hamilton each tied for second by shooting 79s. Hamilton, which placed the top four finishers, won the team championship with a score of 399.

Marmonte League championships--Ryan Pitek of Thousand Oaks shot a three-under-par 68 at Simi Hills Golf Course to establish a new league record for the course.

Roy Moon of Royal, Brian O’Flaherty of Westlake and Scott Fulkerson of Royal each shot a 70.