Barbara Franco was the women’s volleyball coach at Napa High School for 17 seasons, two years as frosh-soph coach in 1980 and ’81, and 15 years as women’s varsity coach from 1982-96. She established an incomparable record of success, whether measured by wins and losses or by the development of the young women who competed on her teams. During Franco’s tenure as coach, Napa won nine MEL championships, finished second four times and third once. Her teams won three section titles and capped off her career with a Nor-Cal championship in 1996. In her last six years as Napa’s coach, Franco’s teams had an unbelievable record of 82 wins and two losses in MEL play. Her last four teams had an overall record of 96-6. Another amazing statistic regarding MEL competition is that Franco’s teams had a combined record of 40 wins and 20 losses against Vacaville and Vintage, and never lost a single match to Fairfield, Armijo, Vallejo, Hogan or Wood. At the end of her coaching term, Napa was on a streak of 64 straight MEL wins. Three of the young women who played for Franco during her first two years as varsity coach are also in the Hall of Fame, inducted in their first year of eligibility. One would expect to see many more of her former players in the next fifteen years. It has been said that Franco has had a greater influence on the increased status of women’s volleyball at Napa High School than any other coach has had on any other sport.
