Pali High Volleyball Poised for Title Run

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

It has been three seasons since the Palisades Charter High School girls volleyball team raised a City championship trophy. For most programs that is be no big deal, but at a school like Pali, that is an eternity.

Since winning the last of their record 31 section titles in the spring of 2021 (the fall 2020 season was delayed because of COVID-19), the Dolphins have suffered back-to-back early playoff exits, losing in the Open Division semifinals in 2021 and the quarterfinals in 2022.

Coach Carlos Gray’s squad is accustomed to reaching the finals and could be headed back there in November with a talent-laden group that is hungry to regain City supremacy.

Leading the charge are senior hitters Ava Pearce and Carly Bloom, who helped their Actyve 17 Black club team capture the 17 USA Division gold medal at the 2023 USA Volleyball National Championships in Chicago in July.

Joining them will be varsity returners Alex Joannides (a senior outside hitter); Bianca Dolotta (a junior middle blocker); Gabi Kawasaki (a senior libero and setter); Rowan Williams (a sophomore setter); Brooke Stratton (a senior opposite hitter); Gabi Bartle (a sophomore opposite hitter); Hazel Irving (a junior middle blocker); and Lucy Neilson (a sophomore libero and outside hitter whose sister Maddie was a senior captain last year).

Bolstering the lineup will be sophomore hitter Tulah Block (who, along with Lua McKnight, placed ninth in the Gold bracket at the City’s beach volleyball pairs tournament in April); sophomore libero Sophia Winston; sophomore middle blocker Annie Refnes; sophomore hitter Adalee Foster; junior right side hitter Paige Monaco; and freshman setter Christie Turner.

As eighth-graders in 2021, Williams, Foster, Bartle, Winston and Refnes powered Paul Revere Charter Middle School to the Delphic League championship, going undefeated in the process.

Last fall, Pali went 12-0 in Western League play and finished 34-11 overall, but was swept by arch-rival Venice (a team it had beaten four times in the regular season) in its first postseason match. The Dolphins did rebound to reach the Division IV regional finals of the state tournament.    

Pali is the preseason City favorite but will be challenged by the likes of Venice, defending City Division I champion San Pedro, Eagle Rock, West Valley League contenders Chatsworth, Cleveland, Taft and last year’s Open Division winner Granada Hills, which has a new coach (Cheyenne Bledsoe) following Tom Harp’s announcement in May that he was stepping down after piloting the Highlanders to seven City girls titles in 15 seasons.

Pali opens the season August 17 with an intersectional match at Crescenta Valley, then returns home August 22 to take on Viewpoint before a road trip to LA Windward two days later.

Also scheduled is a home match with Brentwood on Tuesday, August 31. The first league contest is August 29 at LACES.