The Dublin High Varsity Girls Volleyball team have enjoyed a great deal of success in the past 72 hours. Dublin won their season finale at home against Dougherty Valley on Senior Night this past Thursday, October 21st, and then went on to earn an At-Large bid into the North Coast Section Division I Girls Volleyball Championships when the brackets were announced on Sunday.
In Thursday’s victory, Dublin defeated Dougherty Valley in four sets by a score of 22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21 on a night in which 10 seniors were honored for their contributions and commitment to the program. Seniors Nyla Helou and Lauren Dang led the way for the Gaels, as Helou compiled 11 kills while Dang set the table for the offense with 15 assists. As the Wildcats attempted a comeback late in the 4th set, senior Leila Briscoe had a pivotal kill and Azja Shelton had a crucial tip to score a point and help secure the win. Rachel Grier contributed 9 kills and Pallak Thapur had 8 assists to lead a balanced Gaels attack.
The win by the Gaels helped them secure the 8th seed and a 1st Round match at home against EBAL rival and #9 seed California on Tuesday, October 26th at 7:00 p.m. Dublin and Cal are 2 of 7 EBAL schools qualifying for the NCS playoffs, which speaks to the strength of the league. The other EBAL teams to qualify include the top four teams in the bracket (Foothill, Monte Vista, San Ramon Valley, and Amador Valley), 12th-seeded Granada, and the #4 seed in the Division II bracket (Carondelet). If Dublin wins on Tuesday, they will likely end up traveling to face top-seeded Foothill on Saturday, October 30th.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased on the DHS Athletics GoFan page here. Please note that the NCS has gone cashless this season and tickets can only be purchased online ahead of time or by using the QR code which will be posted at the entrance. Other restrictions include the fact that the game cannot be viewed on GaelsTV due to NCS licensing guidelines, and EBAL passes, DHS Boosters Digital passes, and DHS ASB stickers cannot be honored for the playoffs.
In addition to the Varsity team’s success, the Junior Varsity and Freshmen teams have a lot to be proud of this season. The JV team went 16-3 while the Freshmen team went 15-2 overall, which means that despite losing 10 seniors the future of the program is definitely bright.
