Piedmont High School’s beach volleyball team is continuing its growth in its third season of competition. This year’s squad opened the season on March 5 with a win at Castilleja.
“I feel very good,” coach Justin Hoover said. “The only match we lost was to their No. 1 team. We have very few seniors with any experience.”
Hoover is in his second season in charge of the program. He said that a “ton” of girls were interested in tryouts and the roster has 11 players. He said it’s difficult because the team doesn’t have a facility on campus so they practice at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School in Moraga.
Freshmen Mia Bechtel and Sofia Meyer will be near the top of the ladder.
“They connect as a team,” Hoover said. “They are very skilled players even though they are freshmen. Beach volleyball is vibe oriented. You have to support each other, you have to trust each other. They played together so much growing up and on a club team.”
Freshman Lucia Dorsey and senior Clara Murphy will probably form another top of the ladder team.
“Clara has composure because she’s a senior,” Hoover said. “Lucia is very tall (5-10). It’s actually a nice pairing. Clara plays defense and Lucia plays up at the net.”
Juniors Fiona Olsen and Daisy Tran have started the season as the No. 3 team.
“Both have a lot of experience playing volleyball,” Hoover said. “As a team, they’re trying to be aggressive but there’s a lot to work on. Beach volleyball is not easy.”
Beach volleyball matches are normally three matches – sort of like the three doubles matches in high school tennis. However, with the sport growing, teams will often schedule extra matches that don’t count towards the official score. Schools are also trying to recruit enough players to have a full junior varsity team.
“We want to encourage as many games as we can,” Hoover said. “You count the first three games.”
Hoover said the Campolindo match scheduled for March 26 should be interesting.
“Campolindo has a great team,” he said.
A Northern California championship is scheduled for May 3 in Santa Cruz.
“I want to make the playoffs,” Hoover said. “I want to grow the sport in Piedmont. Eventually I want to have a place in Piedmont for us to practice (and play matches at).”