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Having already clinched a league title, the Berkeley High girls volleyball team moved one step closer to its third consecutive undefeated Alameda-Contra Costa Athletic League season on Thursday with a straight-set win (15-1, 15-6, 15-7) over El Cerrito High. 

As the Yellowjackets’ last regular-season home game, Thursday night was Senior Night, and Berkeley (20-10 overall, 13-0 ACCAL) seniors certainly came through with the spotlight on them. All four of the elder members of the team had good performances, led by middle blocker Vanessa Williams’ 12 kills, nine digs and four aces. Her front line partner, outside hitter Amalia Jarvis, had six kills, 10 digs and two aces, while setter Danielle Larue served up six aces. Rachel Phillips, who is a spot starter, took advantage of her increased court time with a season-high six kills to go with 12 digs. 

Berkeley has just one match left, a Tuesday match against Alameda High, in the way of an unblemished league record. Head coach Justin Caraway said he is “cautiously optimistic” that his team can run the table, which may be a bit of an understatement. Caraway’s squad hasn’t lost more than one game in an ACCAL match in the three years since joining the league, and Berkeley’s dominance doesn’t seem likely to end anytime soon. 

After the regular season, the Jackets will try to duplicate their remarkable North Coast Section title run of last year. Although several players are back from the upset wins over Bishop O’Dowd High and Castro Valley High, Berkeley’s subpar performance against top competition this year has Caraway a little nervous. 

“O’Dowd will be a mental hurdle again, because they’ve beaten us so many times,” Caraway said. “I also have no idea where we’ll be seeded because we have so many losses. I don’t know how that will affect us.” 

Berkeley came out on fire against El Cerrito (5-8 ACCAL), with Jarvis and Williams pounding the ball all over the court. Although the Jackets did let up in the subsequent games, allowing the Gauchos some easy points, Caraway was pleased with the emotion his players brought to the match. 

“I thought we came out and played very well in the first game, really put [El Cerrito] on their heels,” he said. “We lost some focus from there. We’ve struggled with the mental challenge of playing weaker teams all season.”