On Monday, Nov. 25, 2025, student leadership put on a fundraiser volleyball game where the Berkley High School Football team played a match against the Berkley Girls Varsity Volleyball team. The idea came from students in the student leadership class who are also on the volleyball team, like senior Evelyn Watts. Watts said, “Marianna Strat, Laila Miller, and I were seeing other schools on Instagram and TikTok doing that event, and we thought it would be a fun event to do through student leadership.” After contacting their coach, the students proposed the idea to the football team, who eagerly agreed.

The night of the event, each team was given time to warm up. After warmups, the first set began. The girls started strong, but a strong spike from senior football player Connor Bushey brought the boys back into the game. After regaining their footing, the girls ran away with the match. However, a strong rally led by senior football player Jacob Osbourne, brought the score to 22-15 with the girls in the lead. Despite the boys’ best efforts, the girls finished out the first set 25-15 and took a 1-0 lead.

Senior football player Noah Lambertson started the second set with an ace and the boys’ first lead of the night. The volleyball team then took control of the game, scoring 12 points and holding the football team to three points. Although the boys tried to fight back with a hot streak of eight points, the girls kept scoring more and more, and eventually won the second match 25-13.

The third set began, and the teams were neck and neck. The boys took a 5-4 lead before the girls took the lead at 9-10, and then the boys struck back with a 15-13 lead. Each team fought to stay on top, going back and forth throughout the set. The teams refused to give up, and the boys saw a chance to win when they won the ball back and needed only five more points to win the set. After a long rally, with incredible blocks, spikes, and diving saves from both sides, the girls’ team took the point and went on to finish the set out with a score of 25-20 and a 3-0 sweep of the boys’ team to win the match.

Even though the boys’ team lost, the lasting impact on them was a big win. Senior Noah Gonzales, a leader and star for the boys during the game, said, “It was a great way to combine these two sports at our school and have people come to watch.” Gonzales was happy to have the opportunity to play with the team and raise money for student leadership. He also plans to start a Boys’ Volleyball Club during the winter offseason. “It would just be us against us in the East Gym. We are trying to get it started this winter,” he said. “It would just be one day a week where we get to come in and play some volleyball.”

Thanks to the support of the football team, the volleyball team, and BHS students, Student leadership managed to raise just under $300 from concessions and admission, which goes back to the class to help put on other events in the future.