{"id":872685,"date":"2026-10-06T10:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T10:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872685\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T10:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T10:58:16","slug":"fans-celebrate-the-valkyries-historic-playoff-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872685\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans celebrate the Valkyries’ historic playoff run"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, during the final seconds of the Valkyries\u2019 win over the Las Vegas Aces, the arena at Chase Center \u2014 known as \u2018Ballhalla\u2019 \u2014 filled with a familiar chant: “G-S-V! G-S-V! G-S-V!” <\/p>\n

G-S-V stands for Golden State Valkyries, whose fans are whole-heartedly embracing the team\u2019s improbable run for a WNBA championship. The franchise, only in its second season, was ranked 10th in the league by ESPN’s pre-season predictions.<\/a> But its fans have always believed in more. <\/p>\n

“Ballhalla is all about the fans, just supporting,” said Lillian Shiiba, who spoke to KALW News ahead of Sunday\u2019s game. “They\u2019re the 6th player.” <\/p>\n

She brought her niece, in from New York City, and came prepared for the arena\u2019s energy. “Community, spirit, engagement and fierceness, and loud,” said Shiiba, describing the atmosphere. <\/p>\n

Then she froze: “Oh my god, I forgot my earplugs!” Last game, when Shiiba had remembered the accessory, “I still had to cover my ears closed, it was so loud, and today is going to be even louder.” <\/p>\n

That proved true. On Sunday, buoyed by a fierce crowd, the Valkyries stifled the Aces to a season low of 60 points. It’s the first time that Golden State has defeated their West Coast rivals since June 7, 2025. <\/p>\n

Over the last two years, the Valkyries have sold out 48 games straight<\/a> in San Francisco. <\/p>\n

Head coach Natalie Nakase says the community of Ballhalla is what powers her team. “There\u2019s no motivation coming from me,” Nakase told reporters at the post-game press conference. “We talk about Balhalla, we talk about the community, we talk about the support we get.”<\/p>\n

\"Tiffany<\/p>\n

Maya Goldberg-Safir<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KALW News<\/p>\n

Tiffany Hayes embraces Oakland-born R&B superstar Kehlani after the Valkyries win over the Las Vegas Aces on October 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

Valkyries fans recognize their playoff run as extraordinary. “It\u2019s such a moment \u2014 more than the Warriors,” Shiiba told KALW News, then hesitated with a laugh: “I know I can\u2019t say that!” Still, fans around her chimed in, resonating with the sentiment. <\/p>\n

“Women’s! Basketball!” Shiiba continued. “Oh my god, I love it. I love, I love it.” <\/p>\n

The Valkyries and Aces meet again on Wednesday in Ballhalla, where a win would put the Valkyries just one game away from competing in the WNBA Finals, against either the New York Liberty or the Atlanta Dream. <\/p>\n

That would only make this moment even bigger. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Sunday, during the final seconds of the Valkyries\u2019 win over the Las Vegas Aces, the arena at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-872685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}