The San Leandro Pirates will head out on the road to face off against the Berkeley Yellowjackets at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. San Leandro is coming into the match hot, having won their last four games.
On Tuesday, San Leandro got the win against Piedmont by a conclusive 3-0.
San Leandro not only won, but also showed off some consistency: they kept Piedmont between 14 and 17 points across their sets. The final score came out to 25-17, 25-14, 25-14.
San Leandro relied on the efforts of Eric Stowe, who had nine digs and four aces, and Collin Peav, who had seven aces and two blocks. That's the most aces Peav has posted since back in April of 2024. Devon Gin also deserves some recognition as he had his first kill of the season.
They weren't the only good server: San Leandro was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 20 aces. That's the most aces they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Berkeley lost 3-0 to Castro Valley on Wednesday. The Yellowjackets have struggled against the Trojans recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost meeting.
While Berkeley ultimately came up short, they didn't go down without a fight: they scored at least 17 points in every set they played. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-21, 25-19, 25-17.
Berkeley's defeat dropped their record down to 7-12. As for San Leandro, their win bumped their record up to 16-8.
Everything went San Leandro's way against Berkeley when the teams last played back in March, as San Leandro made off with a 3-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Pirates since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
