The Piedmont Middle School 8th Grade Volleyball team brought home a 2nd place plaque for the school and medals for each player from the East Bay Middle School League Tournament. This year’s EBMSL Tournament was hosted by Stanley Middle School in Lafayette and held from October 14-17. The invitational tournament brings together the top 10 middle school teams in the East Bay for bracket play with a double elimination requirement.
This year’s 8th grade team completed the regular season undefeated. Combined with their record as 7th graders, these volleyball players now finish their middle school career at 22-0 in regular season play.
Piedmont earned a first round bye in the EBMSL tournament, then played two matches on October 15 against Albany Middle School and Stanley. Piedmont beat Albany in straight sets, 25-16 and 25-20. Highlights included 6 kills by Sofie Bechtel, 4 kills by Charlotte Bailey, and 5 digs and 5 service aces by Sarina Hill. In its next match against Stanley, Piedmont won in straight sets, 25-10 and 25-16. Stanley had strong hitters, but Piedmont’s Campbell Miller was ready with 4 defensive blocks. Campbell also turned on the offense with 3 kills, Juliana Pouzo had 7 kills, and Madelyn Huynh had 6 service aces.
Piedmont earned another bye for October 16, then returned to Stanley on Friday afternoon, October 17, for a match against Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School. The JM team entered the tournament having never lost a set in its 7th and 8th grade seasons, and it was the only team that had beaten Piedmont in the prior year’s tournament. In a long-anticipated rematch, Piedmont lost the first set to JM 14-25, then came back strong to win the second set 26-24, but lost the tie-breaking third set 8-15. Piedmont’s offense was led by kills from Sofie Bechtel, Campbell Miller, Juliana Pouzo, and Ava Ubaka, with assists from Madelyn Huynh and Sarina Hill.
As this was a double elimination tournament, Piedmont was not out of the running for the championship and was rematched with Stanley. Stanley had a roaring home crowd in the stands and was ready to avenge its earlier loss to Piedmont, but Piedmont was ready, winning with a resounding 25-14, 25-15. Sofie Bechtel was on fire against Stanley with 11 kills and 2 aces; additional kills were scored by Juliana Pouzo, Simone Tornatore, and Ava Ubaka. Madelyn Huynh had 13 assists and 4 aces, and Sarina Hill had 9 assists and 8 digs.
Immediately after beating Stanley, Piedmont played Joaquin Moraga for the championship. The two teams had spectators cheering loudly as they stayed neck-to-neck until JM pulled away at the end of both sets. The evening and the tournament concluded with Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School winning the championship and Piedmont Middle School coming in second with a final score of 20-25, 21-25.
Coached by Nikkola Yuen, the team is led by setters and defensive specialists Sarina Hill and Madelyn Huynh, with libero Siena Botero, outside hitters Sofie Bechtel and Juliana Pouzo, middles Charlotte Bailey, Campbell Miller, Jane Saunders, and Ava Ubaka, and finally, Simone Tornatore and Abby Walsh-Poole rounding out the defense.
Middle school girls volleyball is a fall sport with registration through the Piedmont Recreation Department. A development program is available for 6th graders, and teams are formed for 7th graders and 8th graders.