Sonoma middle school volleyball team undefeated year after year

Undefeated seasons are rare in any sport, but the eighth grade girls volleyball teams at Adele Harrison Middle School have put together three undefeated years in a row, finishing their 2018-2019 season with 12 straight wins.

They had 14-0 records last year, and the year before that, but this year’s season has only 12 games – two each against six opponents – as St. Vincent’s didn’t field a team.

That makes them 40-0 over the past three years, and 26-0 for the same “class” of girls, which went 14-0 last year as seventh graders, a unique accomplishment for a school the size of Adele.

“It looks like one of Rincon Valley’s teams, in the large school division, went 24-0 over a couple seasons,” said coach Brian Perkins. “None of the small schools have been able to do it,” at least as far back as the records go, he said.

Their season ended Jan. 17, with the Hornets beating Healdsburg, 25-11 and 25-6. The day before, they beat Calistoga, 25-11, 25-17, and swept St. Helena on Monday.

The streak is even better, says Perkins. The team hasn’t lost a set since its second match of the season, back on Nov. 2. The team bounced back to win two sets in a row – and didn’t stop winning, 22 straight set wins for 11 victories in a row.

“This will make the third Adele team in a row to win the championship in both their seventh and eighth grade years,” said Perkins. “The gym wall is getting crowded with pennants!”