Dolphins Share Volleyball Player of the Year Honors

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor         

The most unstoppable force in the City Section this season was the combination of Palisades High junior setter Blake Pecsok and senior outside hitter Gus Wibbelsman.

One could not have done his job without the other, so it is fitting that after leading the Dolphins to their 17th City title the two would share Player of the Year honors.    

In addition to the two MVPs, Palisades has two other players on the All-City First Team: senior middle blocker Matisse Lee-Maarek and senior outside hitter James Rockwell.   

Making the Second Team is senior  opposite hitter Hunter Martinez, who played an instrumental role in the team’s late season surge.

The All-City announcement came a week after the All-Western League team was chosen by the coaches. Once again, the list was dominated by Dolphins, who went 12-0 and dropped only one set in league play.   

Pecsok was named MVP while Wibbelsman, Lee-Maarek, Rockwell and Martinez all earned First Team accolades. Freshman libero and setter Sean Wahlig and senior middle blocker Ryder Cataldi both earned Second Team recognition.

Despite seven seniors graduating  (Wibbelsman, defensive specialists Vinny Rhee and Ben Martin, Martinez, Lee-Maarek, Rockwell and Cataldi) the Dolphins figure to be contenders again next season with Pecsok returning to distribute the ball to middle blocker Christopher Pettitand sophomore hitters Emmitt Whitaker and Pierce Bergstein.

In Wibbelsman’s three seasons on varsity, Palisades has compiled a  53-11-1 overall record and a 20-0 league mark. He paced the Dolphins with 23 kills and Lee-Maarek added 17 kills and five blocks in a four-set upset of  defending champion and top-seeded Chatsworth in  the City Open Division finals on May 14 that avenged a four-set nonleague home loss March 10.

Carlos Gray earned Coach of the Year honors for the second time in four years. Palisades’ last City MVP was setter Marcus Partain in 2019.