By Sue Pascoe
Editor
The Palisades High School girls water polo varsity team won in Burbank Varsity Tournament over the weekend. “What a fantastic couple of days,” said Coach Kirk Lazaruk who noted the Dolphins entered the tournament as the seventh seed.
They easily beat the number 10 seed Hoover, 11-3. The Dolphins then had more of a challenge as they went up against Arcadia, the number-two seed, beating them 8-7.
In the semi-final match against San Marino, PaliHi was down 4-0 at half-time. “We changed our defensive strategy and came back to win it 5-4,” Lazaruk said.
In the championship match, they faced Monrovia who had defeated Alemany (7-6), Flintridge Prep (12-2) and Burbank (11-3) to reach the finals.
At the first quarter the score was 0-0. The scoring then went back and forth, but the Dolphins prevailed to win 5-4.
Since the program’s inception at Palisades High in 2011, this was the Dolphins first tournament win.
They girls have reached the City Section Championship five times, but have yet to take the title. Lazaruk feels this year will be different, because Monrovia has already defeated Eagle Rock, which won the title the last two years. PaliHi junior Leighanne Estrabrook, who plays utilty/driver was selected tournament MVP.
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