Alum Shares Her Wisdom

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Should the Palisades High girls volleyball team capture its 31st City championship this fall it will do so in part because of the wisdom and guidance of a player who helped the Dolphins win their last two section titles—four-year varsity lettermen Kaia Kanan—who is assisting head coach Carlos Gray as a proud alum  who wants to give something back to the program that enabled her to play at the Division I college level.

Gray is over the moon having her on the bench just as he was having her quarterback the offense as the starting setter for three seasons.

“It’s meant the world to me,” he said. “Kaia’s an incredible person, coach and player. She understands the system because she played in it and she’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached, hands down.”        

After leading the Dolphins to the  Open Division crown and earning City Player of the Year honors in 2020, Kanan spent two seasons at Cal State Northridge, appearing in     

15 matches as a freshman in 2022 and 19 matches as a sophomore last fall when she contributed 265 assists (4.08 per set), 17 aces and 61 digs for the Matadors in the highly competitive Big West Conference.

“I had an injury during the second month of the season last year and had trouble with my spine—three bulging discs. So I was going to the chiropractor and getting acupuncture just to keep me playing.”

Sure, she misses being in uniform, but she is a natural when it comes to coaching. She began coaching while playing club for Actyve (based in Santa Monica) and likes going back to her roots where she can put her 11 years of knowledge to good use while finishing up her degree.

Kanan commutes to CSUN from the Palisades (she lives with her parents Christine and James) and she also works as a greeter at Duke’s in Malibu where her older brother Kobe is a manager and bartender.

“My schedule’ s kind of hectic,” she admitted. “I have clases from 8 a.m. to 12:45, but coming here to Pali after is very rewarding for me. The hardest thing is having to sit and watch. When I was playing I had so much control. It’s so much more stressful now that I can’t be in their head but I can motivate them and pass on what I learned. The sport is draining physically and mentally in Division I. In high school you play teams you know you’ll beat. In college there are no gimmes. I started out third string. You’re constantly fighting for a spot. Often it came down to who practiced better. You can never get too comfortable.”

Kanan wants to work in pro sports one day, ideally the NFL. She was the only freshman on varsity when Palisades won City in 2018 and now  she wants the present Dolphins to  experience the same thing.

“We’ve got a lot of talent and it’s fun working with these girls,” the 20-year-old said. “I coached some of them when they were 12 or 13. I’m still undecided whether I’ll help with the boys team in the spring.”