Interrupting History

The girls volleyball vault on the island of Kaua’i had been, for 28 years,

property of Waimea High School. The Menehunes held tightly to the lock, the

key, the code, whatever.

But, in a not-so-secret operation, 14 girls from

Kaua’i High School cheered for each other and together squeezed their hair in

unifying braids and smiled and laughed.

And in that they discovered the

code.

For the first time since 1972, when girls high school volleyball

began on the island, a team other than Waimea will represent Kaua’i at the

state tournament: The 2000 Kaua’i Red Raiders, coached by Richard Roberts, and

captained by Heather Roberts, Danielle Kiyabu and Kim Downing.

When the

final ball found the floor last Saturday night at Waimea, sealing the KIF crown

for Kaua’i, the outpouring of emotion was real, according to Richard.

“Tears came from people we might not have expected. There was real

feeling.”

Those feelings exceeded even typical emotion for the coach’s

daughter, Heather, and cooled a fire that has been burning for her entire high

school career.

“This was a phase in my life,” said the senior. “Winning the

KIF was something I planned for and needed to do. I now feel like I can move

onto the next phase, move onto college.”

Of course there is the matter of a

state tournament first, but the importance for these girls in finally scaling

the KIF hump is clear.

The three captains, along with senior-setter Rona

Nishikawa, have been together “for 10 years” according to Heather, and have had

their sights on unseating the Menehunes since they stepped foot in a Kaua’i

hallway 3 1/2 years ago as freshmen. They all played together under the

watchful eye of Richard and Waimea coach Dr. Paul Arrington at the Ho’oikaika

Volleyball Club on the westside.

But the girls wanted something

different.

“I could have gone to Waimea, but I wanted something different,”

Heather said. “I know I came over here because, honestly, I wanted to be part

of a team that knocked Waimea off.”

So the girls became Red Raiders. With

them came middle blocker Misty Hug, also a senior this year, and the five

formed the unit that would experience plenty together in their effort to find

the off switch to Waimea’s winning machine.

Needless to say, this crowning

of Kaua’i did not happen overnight.

All five seniors, Roberts, Downing,

Kiyabu, Nishikawa and Hug, played their freshmen year on the JV level under

Richard’s direction. “As a gifted defensive specialist,” Kiyabu got pulled up

to varsity that first year, Richard said.

Then as sophomores, today’s

seniors moved up to the varsity level, and Richard got his hands on a new crop

of freshman to mold for a year. That gave the coach the opportunity to work

with Tiana Lum-Tucker, Kehaulani Regidor and Kareen Konishi, girls who were

vital components of the Kaua’i effort this year.

“Our juniors were

outstanding,” Heather said. “We always know we can turn to Tiana when we need a

big kill, and the others were great.

“Plus, there’s no way to describe how

awesome the bench was. They were always screaming and hollering and giving us

support. There’s no way we do what we do without them.”

In 1998, the team –

and this core of girls – stole a match from Waimea, the first time that had

ever happened. In 1999, two matches were taken, a playoff – which Waimea won –

was forced. The inevitable seemed to be gaining steam, seemed ready to charge

ahead at breakneck speed.

“That was really disappointing for them,” said

Richard, who is coaching just his second year at the varsity level. “When they

forced the playoff, they really wanted the win. It was hard for them not to get

it.”

But the spirit was renewed for 2000.

“We set goals at the

beginning of the season,” Heather said. “We wanted to win the first round, then

win the KIF, then go see how well we could do at states.”

How they did

it

The same three words poured from both Arrington and Richard when

asked what it was about this Kaua’i team that made them winners.

“They were

consistent,” according to each coach. “They didn’t make a whole lot of

mistakes,” Arrington said. “They passed well, kept the ball in play and just

played solid volleyball.”

Because the Raiders’ core had played together for

so long, they seemed to feed off of unspoken bonds. This allowed for a lot of

movement on offense, an awareness by Nishikawa – the setter – of where her

hitters were going to be.

“I thought she was great at moving the ball

around this year,” Downing said. “She kept defenses off guard and kept all the

hitters in the game by switching it up.”

The Red Raiders’ defense may have

been even more consistent than the offense.

Whether sticking blocks or

digging balls, Richard said early in the season that his girls were going to

pride themselves on defense.

But perhaps the year’s biggest boost came from

middles Downing and Hug. The former stands 5-foot-9, the latter 5-11 and each

pounded away at the ball and stuffed opponents’ kill attempts with

regularity.

“Our middles were great,” Richard said. “And we’re going to

continue to go to them at the state tournament.”

Team, Team,

Team

One does not unseat a champ by him or herself. In fact, just try

and talk to the coach or co-captains about individual performances; you won’t

get very far.

“We’re not really about the individual thing,” Downing said.

“And the support here is amazing. They (the bench) cheer for you when you do

something well and pick you up when you do something bad.

“During the

preseason, I think people in the stands were watching our bench more than they

were watching us because they were yelling and screaming so much.”

In

reality, those fans might have been caught in a stare because of the patterns

crafted atop each Raiders’ head.

“Bonded In Braids” might have been an

appropriate team motto.

“Yeah, I guess that was our way of saying, ‘This is

how tight we are. If we all do this together, nothing can pull us apart,'”

Downing said of the braided hair.

But that bench, and those non-starters

were not there just to cheer and slap behinds. On the contrary, the captains,

as well as Richard, gave high marks to the push the reserves provided in

practice.

Ashley Tanaka, Tiare Toulon, Ashley Nagaoka, Erin Garlie, Ashley

Kawaihalau and Kandice Cummings put all kinds of pressure on the first team

during the long days of preparation between matches.

“They were awesome,”

Kiyabu said. “We [the starters] got a challenge everyday, and those girls got

us ready to play matches.”

The fact is, as a collective unit, the Raiders

seem to lack the ability to praise themselves.

Downing, a vital part of

Kaua’i’s success this season, could not find the words to describe the

importance of herself and Hug to the Raiders. But praising others gushed with

fluidity from her wide smile.

“Our juniors were awesome, just awesome,” she

said. “A lot of credit goes to them, and to Rona (setter) and our other

seniors.”

Selflessness, apparently, equals victory.

The

Past

Retrospect may prove that, for these girls, 1999 was the most

important aspect of their 2000 KIF championship.

There was genuine pain and

frustration, especially for the seniors, when the team took the second round

from Waimea last year, but was unable to defeat the Menehunes in a one-game

playoff.

It also may have been the turning point in girls’ volleyball on

Kaua’i.

“We were so close last year,” Kiyabu said. “It was devastating to

lose that match.

“But we got the taste of victory, and that was very

important for what we were going to do this year. That game, that game is when

I knew we were going to do it this year.”

Downing, in fact, summed up her

feelings even more succinctly.

“The big emotion came from me when we lost

last year,” she said. “That was my outpouring. This year, I just knew we were

going to do it, and now it’s on to states.”

Stuff of Legends

What:

2000 Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball

champions

Who: Kaua’i High School

When: Official victory came Saturday,

Oct. 28 at Waimea High School

What It Means: Waimea has held tightly to

girls’ volleyball supremacy on the island for 28 years. This was the first

time a team other than the Waimea had won the title.

What It Means II:

Kaua’i will go to the state playoffs, Nov. 7-10 in Honolulu, for the first time

in its history.

Team Members: Seniors-Heather Roberts (C), Danielle Kiyabu

(C), Kim Downing (C), Rona Nishikawa and Misty Hug; Juniors-Tiana Lum-Tucker,

Kareen Konishi, Ashley Tanaka, Tiare Toulon, Erin Garlie, Kehaulani Regidor,

Kandice Cummings, Ashley Kawaihalau and Ashley Nagaoka

Coaches:

Head-Richard Roberts (2nd year); Asst.-Chad Delanoza and Lisa

Cummings

Managers: Mildred Avila, Donna Colobong and Bernice

Lagpacan