By MARTY JAMES
It was Media Day on Monday, Oct. 20 for the Napa Valley College women's basketball team.
It was not a practice day for the Storm, who have been at work, preparing for the 2025-26 season, since the summer.
Instead, it was a day for photos, videos and interviews.
"It's just a time for them to kind of have fun, taking pictures, doing videos, getting some early team pictures," head coach Paul DeBolt said. "We'll do an official team picture later in the year."
With 14 players on the roster, it's one of the biggest teams in school history.
The numbers are a major change from last year, when Napa Valley ended the 2024-25 season with just six players for its first-round game against Chabot College-Hayward in the California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Basketball Championships. Arianna Aguilar scored 22 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and Jazmine Fontilla scored 12 points for the Storm in a 76-66 loss.
This year's Media Day also serves as a bonding experience, said Aguilar, who is one of five returning players.
"We have a lot more players this year," said Aguilar. "Last year, there was only like seven or eight of us, so it was really not as energetic and crazy as it was this year. But it's a lot easier and more fun with a lot of girls on the team that we can all bond with."
Aguilar, a guard, and Fontilla, a point guard, were each named All-Bay Valley Conference for Napa Valley (17-12 overall, 13-3 Bay Valley Conference), which reached the postseason for the third straight year last season.
Aguilar averaged 15.7 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting from the floor, 33.3 percent from 3-point distance, and 58.3 percent at the free-throw line during a standout season last year. In addition, she averaged 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Fontilla also played well last year, averaging 11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Napa Valley was recognized as among "Best of the Rest" in the final California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association State Top 25 Rankings, as announced by the California Community College Athletic Association, in a report, at www.cccaasports.org, on March 19.
Ashley Torres, Marticia Pollard and Helena White also return for the Storm. They finished in second place in the Bay Valley Conference last year.
"I feel like Media Day was a good experience and a good time for us to bond together as a team," said Fontilla. "I feel like, overall, it just helps raise our team chemistry, because we get along on the court and also off the court.
"I feel like this was a good day to have our Media Day, to just get our mind off practicing, running plays, running in general. So, being able to just enjoy our time on the court instead of practicing, it's a good time."
The Storm's eight-week summer program, which included strength and conditioning, ended on August 7.
Practices for the Storm have been going since August.
The team's Media Day comes after the Storm played in a jamboree, Sept. 20 and 21, at College of the Canyons-Santa Clarita, and also a scrimmage against College of San Mateo on Saturday, Oct. 18.
"I think our Media Day went really well today," said Torres, a guard. "I like the spirit, having a bigger team this year. I felt like it was more fun compared to last year, as it was a smaller group."
This year's team consists of five sophomores and nine freshmen.
The Storm opens the 2025-26 season at the Pasadena City College Sisterhood of Champions Tournament, a crossover event. Napa Valley faces San Bernardino Valley College on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. The Storm meets Taft College on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 12 p.m.
"Everyone seems to be getting along really well, on and off the court," said Torres. "I really like this team we have this year. We've already had a bunch of team-bonding events. All of us, we like to see each other outside of basketball."
After a road game at American River College-Sacramento on Nov. 4, the Storm opens its home season on Nov. 6 against College of the Redwoods-Eureka at 4 p.m.
It's a 28-game regular-season schedule. The Storm has 13 nonconference games. The Bay Valley Conference season begins in December.
"Something we struggled with last year was the numbers," said Pollard, a forward/post. "I feel like this year it's way better. We do have a lot more talent. For me, being a post, it's nice having more posts, more competition.
"I feel like we are pretty solid this year as far as skill set and talent. It's just more of like getting everybody together and on the same page."
Napa Valley will host Storm Surge V, a three-day tournament, Dec. 11-13. The Storm is joined at the tournament by College of the Canyons, Diablo Valley College-Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College-Pittsburg, Porterville College, Rio Hondo College-Whittier, San Jose City College and College of the Siskiyous-Weed.
Napa Valley faced Southwestern College-Chula Vista, Cuyamaca College-El Cajon, MiraCosta College-Oceanside and Antelope Valley College-Lancaster at the College of the Canyons jamboree.
The Storm's only scrimmage was against College of San Mateo.
"The more we've been practicing and playing together, we've kind of all been able to understand how each other plays," said Aguilar. "The scrimmage we just played on Saturday against San Mateo is like the best I think the team has played. You can kind of just see everyone starting to blend in with each other.
"I just think, day by day in the gym, we're getting better, trying to get each other better."
What DeBolt said he has learned so far about the team is that there's competition for playing time, that the defense is ahead right now, and that there's a combination of size and speed.
"There's a lot of players who can play. They're battling for playing time, but they're all going to play," said DeBolt. "It's just a fantastic group of young women. It's really a good group. We need to get better. We've got to develop more offensively, but we've got some shooters. I think it's a pretty good group, from what I'm seeing."
It's also very good team depth that NVC brings into the season.
"What it means is we can scrimmage every day. We can get after each other every day. We can hold normal practices. We can be more aggressive defensively," said DeBolt.
"We are in a situation where we're working with them to play to their strengths and to get better every day."
* 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.