Highlanders at San Leandro in first round on Oct. 27
The Piedmont High School girls volleyball team will see a familiar opponent in the first round of the North Coast Section playoffs, just as it did a year ago.
The third-seeded Highlanders will face San Leandro on the road on October 27 in the NCS Division 3 playoffs. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Last year, Piedmont beat Urban-San Francisco during the regular season, then lost in the first round. This year, the Highlanders beat the Pirates back on September 8, 24-26, 25-23, 25-13, 25-18.
“In our game against them, they were dangerous,” Piedmont coach Michael Glass said. “We did beat them 3-1. They took the first and nearly took the second. We know they have good passing and solid hitting. We need to be going into their gym and a hostile environment.”
Glass said the team was happy with their seeding.
“We’re happy with that outcome,” he said. “This is a program that doesn’t have an NCS playoff win in over a decade. It shows some good progress.”
The Highlanders (15-13) already recorded their first season over .500 since 2017. They haven’t won an NCS game since beating St. Helena in the first round of the Division 4 playoffs in 2015.
Piedmont closed the season with several close matches. The Highlanders pulled off a nice win over Alameda in Binks Gymnasium in the final home game of the year on October 22, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19.
“We’re really happy with that win against Alameda,” Glass said. “We had lost to them 3-0 in an away game. They came to our gym, it was senior night and we played really well. We got that win to cap off our league play.
“We had competitive games against teams of that caliber but we hadn’t pulled out a win this season so that was a big comfidence builder for us.”
Maika Ting led the Highlanders with 13 kills. Allyson Huynh, Oliva Stevens and Sarina Hill each had two aces. Huynh also had 29 digs. Mia Bechtel had 15 assits and Carina Vora added 13.
Glass said the Highlanders are ready for the playoffs.
“I think the team has improved over the course of the season,” he said. “We’ve been able to gel on a couple of key fronts. We have been able to put in defensive changes that are much needed when you play the variety of opponents we have. Weve got those options for the team. On offense, weve continued to improve our connection bewteen our setter and our hitters across the board and our hitters have gotten better and better at reading the situation and deciding what the best play is in the moment.
“I think the girls are excited to make a run here. They’re a competitive group.”
On October 14, Piedmont lost 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-21 at Berkeley. Ting had eight kills and Vora had 20 assists.
On October 20, the Highlanders lost an incredibly tight match at Castro Valley, 27-25, 25-27, 17-25, 25-20, 16-14. Ting had 15 kills, Charlotte Bailey had three blocks, Vora had 33 assists and Huynh had 26 digs.
On October 23, Piedmont added a nonleague match at home against Amador Valley. The Dons won, 25-19, 25-15, 25-19. Izara Dando and Emilia Angulo led the Highlanders with six kills apiece. Vora added 17 assists.