Piedmont High School’s varsity girls volleyball is set to host Urban-San Francisco on Oct. 29 for the first round of North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs. This is the first time the Highlanders have qualified for NCS since 2018. Piedmont enters the playoffs 9-11 overall.
Middle back Charli Panico said the Highlanders qualified due to their strength this year. She said they have a good shot of beating Urban. The teams met Sept. 9 at Urban and Piedmont won, 31-29, 25-23, 24-26, 25-9.
“We have beaten Urban in the past, they are not crazy good, and we only lost one set,” Panico said.
On Oct. 24, the Highlanders fell at Bishop O’Dowd, 25-11, 25-18, 20-25, 25-15.
“In the first set, we lost pretty bad. The second set was also really bad. In the third set, we came back and won. We were finally getting in our rhythm,” Panico said.
On Oct. 22, Piedmont lost to visiting Castro Valley 25-23, 25-18, 25-19 on the Highlanders senior night.
“In our first set, our seniors played the whole time, and it was pretty good. We were right there, but Castro’s one of the best teams in our league,” Panico said.
On Oct. 16, Piedmont beat visiting Encinal, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21, 25-21. The Highlanders swept the season series with the Jets. On Oct. 15, Piedmont was swept at Berkeley, 25- 14, 25-15, 25-13. On Oct. 9, the Highlanders fell at Alameda, 25-15, 25-23, 25-23.
“Last time we played Alameda, we won two sets, and then unfortunately we lost after that,” middle hitter Mira Sachs said.
On Oct. 7, Piedmont were swept in three sets at home to Bishop O’Dowd.
“It’s really about our ability to stay in the game after we lose one set. In the first set, we lost 25-27, we knew we had a chance, we were so close to taking that set off them, and at the end I wasn’t disappointed we lost,” Sachs said. “We need to stay confident in our abilities.”
Sachs said that with an incredibly young team, the underclassmen are performing excellently. She said sophomores Maika Ting, libero Olivia Stevens, and middle hitter Izara Dando have been playing great.
On Oct. 2, the Highlanders lost at Castro Valley, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22.
“We didn’t get crushed. It was a pretty close game,” Panico said.
On Sept. 30, Piedmont beat Encinal, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23.
“Encinal beat us in the first set, but first sets are always just a warm up set. We just came up and beat them for the rest of the game,” Panico said.
On Sept. 25, the Highlanders lost at home to Berkeley, 25-12, 27-25, 25-17.
“That was me and (outside hitter Stella Wilk’s) best game,” Panico said. “We brought the energy, we were super hyped up, and the first set was really close. We fought back, and pushed it to overtime, but then sadly lost by two, and the next two sets we lost.”
On Sept. 23, Piedmont suffered a heartbreaking loss at home to Alameda, 21-25, 23-25, 25-11, 25-19, 15-5. “It was a really tough game. We were crushing them in the first two sets, and then the third set came around, and we ended up losing the game,” Panico said.
On Sept. 18, the Highlanders swept host Oakland Tech, 25-18, 25-10, 25-13.
“That was definitely one of our easier games,” Panico said. “We kind of just showed up, played our best, and went home with a sweep.”