Tensions are always high when Palisades and Venice meet on the volleyball court. This time, however, there was more at stake than just neighborhood bragging rights.
In the fifth meeting this season between the Western League rivals, the second-ranked Dolphins came out on top to capture the City Section Women's Open Division championship with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 victory Friday night at Southwestern College.
It was a record 31st section title for Palisades (35-7), which won its last title (all but two in the top division) four years ago when the 2020 fall season was postponed until next spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Tula Block's seventh and final kill of the match sent her teammates rushing off the bench to hug each other.
“Going into this kill, I just knew I had to do it for the team,” Block said. “I'm so proud of the whole team, especially what we went through and are still going through after the fire and not having a gym. We even had to go to the beach one day to practice.”
The West Valley League has dominated girls volleyball for the past decade, but Palisades and Venice each defeated two West Valley League opponents to advance to the finals. The Dolphins knocked off Granada Hills and defending Open champion Taft, while the top-ranked Gondoliers eliminated Chatsworth and El Camino Real.
Venice (32-11) won Division II in 2012, Division I in 2016 and the Open Division in 2021. The last time a West Valley League school failed to reach the Open Division finals was 2019, when Eagle Rock beat Palisades in four sets.
Venice won the team's first league meeting on August 28, but came back to take a rematch in five sets on September 25 and ultimately finished in first place due to the Dolphins' surprise loss to University in five sets. The teams also met twice in the tournament, with Venice winning both times in best-of-three sets.
“Our slogan all year has been, 'No gym, no problem,'” Palisades senior libero Lucy Neilson said. “We came in today with a ‘leave it there’ mentality.”
Palisades rallied from a 19-16 deficit to win the first set on a Block kill that Venice's Samantha Lortie dove for in desperation but couldn't quite get to the bottom of. Venice's last stand came in the third set when it took a 13-7 lead, but Palisades responded with a 14-point run on Phoebe Messiah's serve.
Lortie, who teamed with Savannah Rosell to win the City doubles tournament on April 29 in Santa Monica and three days later led the Gondoliers to their first beach volleyball title, traded kills with Palisades' Anabelle Redaelli, who finished with a match-high 13. Lortie had 11 and Gaia Adeseun-Williams added eight in the benefit of the gondoliers.
“A win this season is special given the obvious circumstances and it had to be against Venice,” Neilson added. “It’s important for our program because we haven’t won it in a few years and that’s our goal every year.”
In the previous Division V final, fifth-seeded Legacy beat 11th-seeded Sotomayor, 25-20, 25-18, 25-12. Both teams were fighting for their first City title. Legacy improved to 10-15 while Sotomayor fell to 12-12.
“We're here because we pushed for it,” Tigers libero Yahaira Ramirez said. “Not every team is going to have a 100 percent winning streak. I like my position. I like to stand out. I save my team a lot of points.”
