PALISADES PACESETTERS

Jeff Porter, the girls’ volleyball coach at Brentwood School for 25 years, notched his 500th coaching victory October 19 in the Eagles’ 25-16, 25-20, 25-23 Olympic League victory over Maranatha. Porter started teaching at Brentwood in 1977 and won his first CIF championship in 1979. Under his leadership, the girls’ volleyball program has won 20 league titles, eight Southern Section titles and two state championships. The Eagles have also finished as CIF runner-ups seven times in Porter’s tenure. Brentwood honored Porter at halftime of the Eagles’ varsity football game Saturday night. Kristin Quinn, a sophomore outside hitter on the women’s volleyball team at Amherst College in Massachusetts, was named New England Small College Athletic Conference player of the week for the second time in three weeks on Monday after posting 38 kills, 18 blocks, three service aces and a .589 hitting percentage in a trio of matches and earning All-Tournament honors in the Hall of Fame Invitational at Smith College last weekend. Quinn, formerly an All-CIF player at Harvard-Westlake High, is among the national leaders and ranks first and second in the NESCAC, respectively, in blocks per game (1.51) and hitting percentage (.428), while adding 3.71 kills per game, good for fifth in the conference. Quinn won player of the week award honors for the first time two weeks ago after racking up a combined 42 kills and 11 blocks in three victories over Bowdoin, Bates and Colby Colleges. She also earned most valuable player honors at the WNEC Invitational and was named to the All-Tournament team at the Wesleyan Invitational earlier this season. As a freshman in 2003, Quinn was named New England Women’s Volleyball Association (NEWVA) and NESCAC Rookie of the Year and earned NEWVA Second-Team All-New England honors, finishing 10th in the nation in hitting percentage (.420) and 13th in blocks per game (1.52). Geoff McArthur, the all-time leading receiver in Palisades High football history, now holds the same distinction at California. The Bears’ senior wide receiver caught six passes for 94 yards in a 38-0 Pac-10 victory over Arizona Saturday, giving him 2,768 career yards. McArthur broke the previous mark of 2,731 yards set by Bobby Shaw’s from 1994-97. Cal is ranked No. 7 in the country and hosts Arizona State Saturday. Matt Willig is back wearing number 71 for the Carolina Panthers, hoping to lead the team to the Super Bowl for the second straight year. The 6-8, 315-pound starting right tackle, a 13-year NFL veteran, has played in all of Carolina’s games this season, one win and five losses. The Panthers are 0-1 in the NFC South division and play at Seattle Sunday afternoon.