By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

Alliyah Fernandez, a 5-foot-6 guard who played two years for the Napa Valley College women's team, announced that she has made a commitment to transfer to Pacific Union College in the fall and will continue her basketball career with the Pioneers.

Fernandez, who is originally from Saipan, plans to major in nursing, which is in PUC's department of nursing and health sciences. The Pioneers play in the California Pacific Conference, an NAIA league that is comprised of 13 schools from three states (California, Nevada, Arizona).

"PUC provides a really great nursing program," said Fernandez, 19, who will be a junior in the fall, with two years of playing eligibility remaining. "I'm very grateful that PUC is giving me the opportunity to play basketball.

"I'm really excited to go there and to play basketball this coming season. It's a really good place to be. It's a great, great college. I think it's going to be really exciting." The Cal Pac, according to its website, www.calpacathletics.com, was chartered on May 24, 1995, by seven Bay Area institutions, including Pacific Union. Pacific Union College, located in Angwin, is an accredited Seventh-day Adventist Christian liberal arts college.

The Pioneers (0-20 Cal Pac, 0-29 overall) finished 11th in the conference standings during the 2022-23 season.

"It's just a great fit. She's a nursing major. And they have great nursing program. It's one of the best in the state," Napa Valley head coach Paul DeBolt said. "I think her future is bright, basketball-wise. The (PUC) coaching staff is going to do a great job with her. I think it's a good fit, basketball-wise.

"She's a really talented player, a great teammate, a great team player. Strong offensive presence. Can rebound. Works hard on defense. I think she'll do well there. She can fill up the basket in many ways."

After graduating in 2021 from Westmoor High School-Daly City, Fernandez joined the NVC program, helping the Storm to a fourth-place finish in the Bay Valley Conference during the 2021-22 season as a freshman.

She missed several games this past season due to injuries to both ankles.

After finishing third in the Bay Valley, the Storm (19-11 overall, 9-5 Bay Valley Conference) advanced to the California Community College Athletic Association Championships as the No. 18 seed, beating College of the Siskiyous, 92-80, in a Round 1 game in the Northern California Regionals in Weed. It was the first playoff win in school history. The Storm lost to Santa Rosa Junior College in the Sweet 16 of the Regionals, 81-39.

Fernandez played in 27 games, starting seven of those games, and averaged 6.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game as a freshman. She scored in double figures six times, hitting a season- and career-high 27 points on 12-of-23 shooting in an 85-74 BVC win over Mendocino College-Ukiah. She also scored 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting and had eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 66-56 win over Los Medanos College-Pittsburg.

This past season, she played in 24 games and averaged 2.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures four times, going for 11 points twice, in nonconference games against Chaffey College-Rancho Cucamonga and Gavilan College-Gilroy.

"She adjusted at the college level," said DeBolt. "Alliyah took it seriously. It's a jump. It's a real jump in levels. Like a lot of players, it takes a minute to adjust to playing with other good players.

"I think she's ready for being challenged at playing at the four-year level. She'll do well. She's excited and ready for a fresh start and I'm excited for her. Great student."

Fernandez was named to the Academic All-Bay Valley Conference women's basketball team for NVC this past season. A player must be a sophomore and have over a 3.0 GPA to be eligible.

Fernandez joins three other NVC players who are transferring on to four-year schools and continuing to play basketball:

* Amaree Bennett, UC Merced.

* Addison Alsbury, University of Saint Katherine of San Marcos, Calif.

* Suraya Lloyd, La Sierra University in Riverside.

It was a super 2022-23 season for Napa Valley.

The 19 wins tied the NVC program record for victories in a single season. The last time a NVC team did that was way back in 1991-92.

Napa Valley was also listed in the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association North Region Poll, as announced by the California Community College Athletic Association, at www.cccaasports.org, at different times during the season.

Fernandez said she is so very grateful to DeBolt, for all the time and work he spent on helping her develop in the game.

"I'm really grateful for Coach Paul for taking me in. Honestly, I didn't think I would keep playing basketball. But he helped me just become comfortable and he was just really patient with me," said Fernandez.

"Coach was very accommodating, and was always willing to teach his experience and everything. He was always helping me, both mentally and physically. He's a great coach."

Napa Valley College Athletics honored DeBolt on his 1,000th career game as a head coach this past season. DeBolt became only the fourth head coach in California community college history to coach 1,000 games and the first one to do it in Northern California.

DeBolt, who is going into his fourth season at Napa Valley, ranks sixth for wins all-time in California community college women's basketball history. He was named as the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association State Coach of the Year during the 2000-2001 season. In addition, he is a three-time CCCWBCA Junior College Region 8 Coach of the Year and an eight-time Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year.

As the head coach at Contra Costa College-San Pablo for 30 years (1986-2016), DeBolt led the Comets to 11 Bay Valley Conference titles and 19 postseason appearances. He has had four seasons with 30-plus wins, nine seasons with 25-plus wins, and 15 seasons with 20-plus victories. The Comets finished as the state runner-up at the California Community College Athletic Association state tournament in 2001 and 2003.

Fernandez said she is doing much better, thanks to treatment she has been getting in physical therapy.

She played on the Northern Mariana Islands National Team at the age of 15. She averaged 15 points per game during her club and high school career, playing for Marianas High School of Saipan. She played in under-16 and under-18 divisions on the Northern Mariana Islands National Team and was honored with numerous most valuable player awards, according to her NVC team bio.

She is so very thankful and appreciative of being able to play for two years in the NVC program.

"Napa definitely helped me the most in my entire career, with my confidence and just my experience overall, being able to play competitive basketball, having great teammates, and a great coach with Paul," Fernandez said.

"What I learned at Napa was just getting better mentally on the court."

* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin

Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.