Welcome to Prep Spotlight, our feature that sheds more light on the Bay Area’s high school sports scene. For tips and story ideas, email highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com. If you haven’t already, please subscribe. Your contributions keep us going.
SKYLINE: YOUTHFUL, BUT PLENTY OF CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
Genesis Branner is very busy, as many 21-year-olds are.
She’s got schoolwork to keep up with as she completes a program that will allow her to become a medical assistant. She has a job as a manager at a retail store. You know, normal 21-year-old things.
Oh, and she’s the coach of a Skyline girls volleyball team that just won its fifth consecutive Oakland Athletic League championship.
Not so normal.
“People always question me and ask, ‘How old are you?’” Branner said, adding, “Some of the kids, especially the freshmen that didn’t know me, thought I was their age.”
Skyline girls volleyball head coach Genesis Branner huddles with her players before their game against McClymonds High during their senior night at Skyline High School in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
While Branner graduated from Skyline in 2020, she left having won the first of what would eventually be five straight titles for the school.
The Titans alum briefly played at State University of New York Brockport, but sustained an injury and decided to move back home to Oakland.
Once she was back in the familiar Oakland Hills, it wasn’t long before Branner’s former coach, Erica Hansen, called the onetime middle-blocker and asked if she was interested in the job.
“I fell in love with it,” said Branner, who still looks like she could get a few kills or blocks.
Branner noted that because she is so close in age with many of her players, and even played with the older siblings of at least one Titan, she said that her relationship with her players is more akin to “a big sister or an auntie.”
That style has worked, and now the Titans are headed to the section playoffs.
“I finished my high school career with gold around my neck, and I’m here to finish this year that way, too,” Branner said.
– Joseph Dycus
Skyline girls volleyball head coach Genesis Branner grabs a ball for her players during warmups before their game against McClymonds High during their senior night at Skyline High School in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Skyline girls volleyball head coach Genesis Branner looks on during their game against McClymonds High at Skyline High School in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Skyline girls volleyball head coach Genesis Branner talks with her players before their game against McClymonds High during their senior night at Skyline High School in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
CASTRO VALLEY: SECOND LEAGUE CROWN SILENCES DOUBTERS
Castro Valley graduated a talented senior class that led the Trojans to a league title last season. Naturally, some doubt creeped around the program as to whether or not it could compete for the league crown again.
Those naysayers have nothing more to say.
With Castro Valley’s 3-1 win over Berkeley on Thursday night, the Trojans captured the West Alameda Country Conference Foothill Division title for the second consecutive season – the first time Castro Valley has won back-to-back league titles since 1993-94.
Even more impressive, this year’s team was mostly made up of underclassmen and will only graduate four seniors at the conclusion of the season.
“When we lost that talent, a lot of people wondered if we were going to be able to do it again,” coach Maggie Del Grande said. “Even though we weren’t underdogs because we did win last year, it almost felt like we were starting over, so it just meant a lot. I think it was really fun to see the look on the freshman’s faces when they realized that their first year in high school, they got to be league champions.”
Junior Tessa Smith has been a standout player for the Trojans all season. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter has 427 kills this fall. In Thursday’s win over Berkeley, she had 31 kills, four aces, four blocks and eight digs.
“She’s always played a very important role for us,” Del Grande said. “She is just a very motivated, strong leader on and off the court. Having her is such a blessing for us, and I really hope that she continues to motivate the younger groups to strive to play at that level so we can continue to be winning a program.”
– Nathan Canilao
The Castro Valley girls volleyball team poses for a photo after beating Berkeley 3-1 to capture its second consecutive league title. (Photo courtesy of Maggie Del Grande)
PALO ALTO: MIES NO. 3
Sophie Mies’ last name carries some weight in the Palo Alto volleyball program. The senior setter is the third – and final – of three Mies sisters to star for the Vikings over the past dozen years.
When asked how her skills stacked up against her older sisters, the Pomona Pitzer commit stayed humble.
“I wouldn’t say I’m the best, since it’s kind of hard to tell since I’ve been playing it the longest,” Mies said.
– Joseph Dycus
LIBERTY: LIONS STAY HUNGRY
Liberty’s boys water polo team has quietly had one of its best seasons in school history.
After beating Freedom on Tuesday, the Lions captured the Bay Valley Athletic League regular season crown and won 20 games for the first time since 2019.
Liberty coach Rosy Ayers credits the team’s grittiness for its success.
“I think just the way they kept their motivation and their grit through their season is what I’m most proud of,” Ayers said. “Winning is actually harder than losing, because losing just smacks you in the face.”
Liberty has played a tough schedule. It has wins over Marin Academy, Foothill and California. The Brentwood school jumped to No. 9 this week in the Bay Area News Group boys water polo rankings.
Related Articles
Prep roundup: Castro Valley girls volleyball wins second consecutive league title
Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Sage Robertson, Liberty football
Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Sofia Poonen, The King’s Academy
Former Oakland High standout leaves college basketball team to take care of siblings following parents’ death
Prep roundup: O’Dowd girls golf wins WACC title, Mercy volleyball takes down Sacred Heart Prep
Though it is unlikely that the Lions get a high seed in the section playoffs because they play a weaker league schedule, Ayers and the team are embracing the underdog mentality.
“I know we’re the underdogs of NCS because, you know, we’re out here in Brentwood,” she said. “I think a lot of the other schools, they’re starting to open up their eyes and realize that we do have a good program out here. We do have good kids. We do have good coaching and when we make NCS we’re ready to play any team very hard.”
– Nathan Canilao
ARCHBISHOP MITTY: SOFTBALL STAR COMMITS TO BYU
Archbishop Mitty star pitcher Kyleigh Mace is taking her talents to Provo, Utah, as she recently committed to play softball at BYU.
The all-West Catholic Athletic League first-team and all-Bay Area News Group honorable mention selection racked up 154 strikeouts and allowed just 27 earned runs in 25 starts last season.
“Playing in a Power 4 conference on the big stage and being on TV playing softball has been a dream of hers since she was itty bitty,” said Mace’s mother, Janelle Mace. “Kyleigh can’t wait to play among and against the best!”
Mace joins a BYU team that went 31-23 last season.
– Nathan Canilao
Mitty sophomore Kyleigh Mace throws a pitch in the CCS Open Division Final at West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif., on May 25, 2024. (Larry Kauk for the Bay Area News Group)