NVC Women’s Basketball Preview: Storm looking to compete with a roster of eight in 2026-27 season

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By Kyle Foster

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

Just because you have limited numbers doesn’t mean you’re not able to compete. You can have a well-rounded team where everyone contributes.

This is what the Napa Valley College women’s basketball team will look to do during the 2026-27 season.

Last season, the Storm went 19-9 with an 8-6 mark in Bay Valley Conference play. They finished fourth in the conference and lost in the opening round of the CCCAA Northern California to No. 14 seed Sacramento City, 96-79, after earning the No. 19 seed.

But this season, they return 4 players who will all play key roles.  Those returners are Briana Alday, Jordan Taylor, Janelle Harding, and Jazelle Bolton. This group of returners is able to do a lot on the court and will have to carry a lot of the load this season.

“I feel like we’re still growing,” Taylor explained. “One, we don’t have a lot of players, which makes it easier for us to kind of get to know each other better, make the team stronger, our connection better. I think with the next couple of games coming up, that is going to determine who we are as a team and what we can do to make us stronger.”

However, the roster is also complemented by a group of four freshmen. Leading them is 2026 Vintage graduate and Napa Sports News first-team selection Luna Aguilar. On top of this, she has a chance to start and will for sure see plenty of playing time.

“Luna’s awesome to have,” Napa Valley College head coach Paul DeBolt said. “She’s just a real point guard. She can play. She’s right there competing for a starting spot. You tell her something once, and she does it. You don’t have to really explain things to her. She picks things up really fast. She works hard. She’s in great shape physically. Her shot’s getting better. Her role here is going to be a little different than it was at Vintage, but it’s just great having her and just being able to see her through the years and now have her on the court. It’s special.”

But she’ll also have to adjust to the college game. She has been doing this ever since coming to the program.

“Being a freshman is really different because playing college basketball is a different environment, different everything,” Aguilar explained. “So I had to get used to playing and practicing with new people, and then new college, and then everything is like a little bit different, obviously.”

The other freshmen joining Aguilar this season are Macy Lee, Rainlee Pruett, and Tanya Bailey.

While this season having a roster of eight isn’t ideal, it is something that the program has navigated before and will mean more playing time for everyone.

“With a smaller group, there are good things about it,” DeBolt explained. “There are bad things about it. You’re not as deep. It’s harder to practice. We get baseball players into our practices to work with us. But I think there are a lot of good things about it. Like, they come together a lot quicker, and there are fewer. I think there are fewer issues with a team that has between eight and 10 players. If you have below eight, you’re in trouble. So, our goal this year is just to bring this group along. We want to stay healthy. We want to keep them together, and we want to keep getting better, and everybody gets better, right? So you want to get better faster than everybody else. So we’ll see what happens.”

Before getting to conference play, the Storm will be tested with a non-conference schedule.

The season will begin on November 3rd when they host American River College at 5 pm. After that, they’ll visit Sacramento City in a rematch on November 7th.

Other highlights of the non-league schedule include a game against Cuesta-San Louis Obispo, Folsom Lake, Diablo Valley, Hartnell, Mission, and College of the Redwoods.

As usual, the Napa Valley will host the Storm Surge tournament from December 10th through 12th. This 8-team tournament will have teams from all over. Those playing in the tournament are San Jose, Siskiyous, Shasta, Marin, West Hills Coalinga, College of the Canyons, and Rio Hondo.

“With a group like this, I think we have to be patient with them, and they’re going to be a work in progress,” DeBolt added. “So our goal is always to win the conference championship, and still a goal. But I think more so this year is just getting them to get better and to compete, to be able to play at the level, to knock it down on themselves, maintain a good level of confidence. Every year is different. This is going to be a different year. I don’t know if we’ll have a year like this again for a while because I think we’ll have more kids in the future. But it is an opportunity for these eight to really get a chance to play, grow, and have fun playing basketball, and win some games. I mean, it’s always competitive in the preseason.”

Before the season started, they also played a scrimmage against Shasta-Redding and went down to the SoCal Jamboree.

“We just need to play together as a team,” Taylor continued. “I feel like some people like we all e we want to score. We all have our own agendas, but when we come together as a team, and we just play, and nobody’s in their head, nobody’s arguing with the coach, everything is good. Like nobody can beat us. Like when we really play how we should be.”

When conference play comes, the favorite will once again be Laney-Oakland. But after that, the rest of the conference is wide-open. This is why they’re aiming for a top three finish in the BVC.

“That would get us to the postseason,” DeBolt pointed out. “So that’s what we’ve done the last few years, and of course, yeah, it’s very attainable. I think, you know, we just need to stay healthy, and we need to not get ahead of ourselves. So it is sort of one of those years. We had a year like that a few years ago, Brooklyn Giles’ sophomore year, where we just got better and better and better, and we competed, and we made playoffs, and she got, of course, she got hurt before that playoff game, which was horrible. But yeah, I think this team. I know people aren’t going to sleep on us, so we’ll have enough to in our conference to compete.”

They will begin BVC play on December 17th when they host Marin at 7 pm. The new thing with conference play this year is that the men and women will alternate start times. The first time through, women will play at 7, and the second time, they’ll play at 5.

The coaching staff is mostly the same this season, too. Besides DeBolt, Allison is now the lead assistant and in a bigger role.

He’s moving into this role after assisting last season and having spent so much time with DeBolt.

“It’s extremely easy,” Allison said. “Like we kind of see the same thing. We have different lenses, but we come up with the same conclusions. And so, what’s neat about that is that we get to kind of concoct this nice little chemistry of organic play amongst players. And so, it essentially comes down to trust. You know, it’s seamless because we trust each other. We’re definitely in it for the same thing, and the fact that not only did he help me when I was in school, but he also helped to raise my sons who are who are now playing basketball in Minnesota. So, just a brotherhood that’s unmatched in peril.”

Robbie Wright is now taking on a strength and conditioning role, while also being the recruiting coordinator. He’s doing this while still being the lead assistant for the baseball program.

Others helping out this season are Zack Cook, who is around when he can be. Russ Critchfield is also an advisor to the team.

“It’s like having that good lemon pie, but then you need that whipped cream,” Allison added. “You need that little specialty on it to make it just the taste just to pop off. And with Crutchfield and Robbie, their ability to expand our scope of recruiting to give more insight. Robbie is such an insightful guy when it comes to this campus and to what we have to offer, and to be a basketball guy and his mom be a basketball lady, it runs in his blood. So I’m just blessed to even have a guy like Robbie on this staff.”