LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls singles champion Sarah Kukino came up just shy of a state title, finishing second in the Carlsmith Ball/HHSAA State Tennis Championships, Saturday. Kukino, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders’ top singles player and No. 2 seed
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls singles champion Sarah Kukino came up just shy of a state title, finishing second in the Carlsmith Ball/HHSAA State Tennis Championships, Saturday.
Kukino, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders’ top singles player and No. 2 seed in the state tournament, lost in the final to top-seeded Sayo Tsukumoto of Kealakehe High School, 6-3, 6-2.
All seeds in the girls singles bracket held to form, as the top four reached the semifinals, with the state’s predicted top two players facing off for the championship.
Kapa‘a High School’s Chas Okamoto, seeded No. 5 in the boys singles bracket, beat No. 4 Robin Kiyabu of Punahou, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (5), in the third-place match.
Okamoto had fallen to the No. 1 seed, Kalani’s Jared Spiker, in Friday’s semifinal match. He turned out to be the only player to win a set against Spiker, taking the first, 7-5, before falling in three.
Spiker went on to win the boys singles title with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over No. 2 seed Matthew Westmoreland of Island Pacific Academy.
Waiakea’s Kallen Mizguchi and Kaito Mizutani took the boys doubles crown with a hard-fought 2-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (8) win over Punahou’s Brandon Lee and Erik Pang. The Waiakea duo was the No. 4 seed, with Punahou the No. 3.
In girls doubles, No. 1 Punahou’s Jennifer Laws and Ashley Nakaoka came away with the title, topping No. 2 ‘Iolani’s Bobbi Oshiro and Kristen Poei, 7-5, 6-3.
Though it finished with just one first-place result, Punahou finished first in both boys and girls team standings.
