WAIMEA — Even with new faces in new places, Waimea High’s varsity boys volleyball team still made short work of the Kaua‘i High Red Raiders Saturday night at Clem Gomes Gym on the Waimea campus. Menehune Head Coach Tony Magaoay came
WAIMEA — Even with new faces in new places, Waimea High’s varsity boys volleyball team still made short work of the Kaua‘i High Red Raiders Saturday night at Clem Gomes Gym on the Waimea campus.
Menehune Head Coach Tony Magaoay came up with a new lineup with just 15 minutes left in Friday’s practice, and it worked well, as Waimea swept Kaua‘i High, 25-16, 25-17, 25-21, in well under two hours.
The “new rotation, new boys in new positions,” designed in part to transition the setting chores from senior Jared Matsumoto to junior Corey McDown, seemed to work without too many hitches Saturday.
“I happy with this win. A win’s a win,” said Magaoay, acknowledging that he figured it would take his troops some time and mistakes (nearly two dozen in the final two games) to adjust to the new faces on the court and the new positions where many of them found themselves.
“I just wanted to play the best ball-handlers.”
They handled the balls and the Raiders, leading every game from the outset, and led the entire length of game two, by as few as five (at 8-3) and as many as nine (15-6) in what wasn’t even their most lopsided win of the night.
“I think we just came out sluggish” in the first two games, said Raider Head Coach Merrill Carvalho, and against a team like Waimea, that’s difficult to rebound from, he added.
“Waimea’s a very well-disciplined team.”
Carvalho was also seeking advice on what to do in practice to try to prepare his boys to begin battling from the match’s first whistle. “Yeah, very frustrating.”
Still, there is no quit in the Raiders or their coaches, as envisioned by one rally-extending save that was closer to the restrooms than to the volleyball court, a save that energized not only the Raiders and their few fans but had Magaoay and the Waimea faithful cheering the valiant effort.
Like a lot of things went on this night, though, the Raiders ended up losing that point, but gaining some respect in the process.
In game three, Kaua‘i High took their first leads of the match, at 2-1 and 13-12, but wouldn’t lead again after that, tying the third game at 1, 4, 12 and 19 and 20.
After the tie at 20, though, they would score only one more point, to close to 23-21, before Waimea took the next two points and closed out the match.
Quinn Gonsalves led Waimea in kills over the last two games, with seven, and added four digs and two blocks. Keaka Canute had four kills in the final game, and David Ka‘ohelauli‘i had three kills, four aces, a dig and a block in the final two games. Matsumoto was solid again with 13 assists in the final two games, along with one block.
Darren Lapitan had two kills, three blocks and an assist for Kaua‘i, while Tyren Hasegawa added a kill, four blocks and two assists, over the last two games. Jay Fernandez had an ace and three digs in the last game, and one dig in game two.
Austin Simao had four blocks in the final two games, and Austine Acorda had a kill, block and dig in game three.
Waimea moved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the second round, while Kaua‘i High fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the second round. Kapa‘a is 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the second round.
Even with the sound defeat, the Raiders aren’t defeated, Carvalho said. “No it’s not. Not at all,” he said when asked if the second round is over.
Just as dominant as the Waimea varsity was, the Kaua‘i High JV made short work of Waimea’s JV, also in straight games, 25-13, 25-20 and 25-11.
• Paul C. Curtis, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
