On September 12, the Berkeley High School girls varsity volleyball team played against the Alameda Hornets. Berkeley crushed Alameda; not one set was lost.
The first set was the closest. The points were tipping back and forth among Berkeley and Alameda, but often just slightly favored Berkeley. With the Yellowjackets keeping their slight lead throughout the set, they pulled out the first win of the game, winning the set 25-22.
The first few points of the second set were similar to the first. There was no significant lead on either end, and it seemed as though either team could take the win. However, Berkeley quickly began to creep ahead, towards the middle of the set.
The eighth point from Berkeley, when they really began to gain momentum, was won when senior Elle Walker, an outside hitter, got a very powerful hit. Head coach Kimberlee Rock said that Elle, “took the net down.”
After this play, Berkeley began to fly past Alameda in terms of points, keeping their 10 point lead for the rest of the set. Junior and Libero Semaj Manuel got 12 serves straight during this set, which catapulted BHS to victory.
Manuel credited the large lead to the team’s communication. “(The team) did a good job talking to each other and connecting on a bunch of different balls.”
BHS kept their huge lead through the end of the set, winning the game 25-9. When asked about the set, Walker said, “We really stepped it up and had some nice hustle plays.”
The third set started with a tight score between the teams. However, BHS quickly got further and further ahead, eventually creating an 11 point lead.
Near the end of the set, Alameda began to creep back up towards Berkeley, on a possible come up. They started closing the gap, but were not completely successful. Berkeley managed to pull through quickly in the end of the third set, winning 25-17, resulting in an overall 3-0 Berkeley win.
Rock noted that the seniors on the team played a large part in the win, “The seniors getting to play and all playing well was a great thing,” she said.
She also stated that the best part of the game was that, “It was a good team win; they played well as a team and everybody who stepped on the court positively contributed.”