LIHU‘E — No. 2 seeded Redlands-East Valley clinched the Po‘okela, or Gold, division of the Kaua‘i Challenge volleyball invitational tournament in two sets, Saturday. But what a great two sets they were, against previously undefeated Dos Pueblos, the top seed
LIHU‘E — No. 2 seeded Redlands-East Valley clinched the Po‘okela, or Gold, division of the Kaua‘i Challenge volleyball invitational tournament in two sets, Saturday.
But what a great two sets they were, against previously undefeated Dos Pueblos, the top seed in the tournament that started Thursday.
“This is the classic re-match,” said Rich Roberts, coordinator of the Challenge. “Dos Pueblos took the title several years ago and this is a rematch.”
Led by its middle blocker and senior outside hitter, Redlands staved off a strong comeback by Dos Pueblos to control the first set, 25-22.
But the second set saw Dos Pueblos make its comeback move earlier, and after a see-saw battle, the Redlands’ senior hitter made a solid kill down the line to seal the victory, 32-30 for the Challenge title.
“Shave ice, shave ice,” the Redlands girls chanted, heedless of the fact they were due at the awards lu‘au in just a few hours. “We’ve been here six times, and we know the good stuff.”
Entering the final day of play at the Challenge, Dos Pueblos, Redlands-East Valley and ‘Iolani advanced to the Po‘okela division with undefeated records following two days of play.
Coming into the tournament, Dos Pueblos, a previous Challenge champion, was rated No. 12 in high schools following the 2009 season. Redlands entered the Challenge with a No. 35 ranking in the nation.
But ‘Iolani, seeded No. 3 after two days and last year’s Challenge champion, was the first casualty, falling to Maryknoll 25-17, 15-25, 17-19. That loss relegated the ‘Iolani Red Raiders to a battle for fifth place against Pearl City, the Chargers from O‘ahu taking that match, 25-16, 17-25, 15-13.
Dos Pueblos, getting the No. 1 seed, advanced over Maryknoll to face Redlands-East Valley, getting the No. 2 seed following two days of play.
Redlands opened its final day of play against St. Bonaventure, a 25-19, 28-26 winner over Pearl City, and advanced to the final round following a 25-11, 25-17 win over the California team.
In the loss, St. Bonaventure faced Maryknoll for third-place honors, a position taken by St. Bonaventure following a win in three sets, 16-25, 26-24, 15-12.
The Waimea Menehune, from the Westside, opened the final day in the Olinolino division at Island School, dropping their first match to St. Joseph, but facing Rim of the World for third place in that division.
Kaua‘i Red, playing in the Onipa‘a division at the Kapa‘a High School gym, advanced over Island School to face Kaua‘i-White, a team comprised of varsity and JV players.
Kaua‘i Red advanced over the Kaua‘i White to the finals of that division, facing the winner of the Kapa‘a and Barrow High School match.
Results of those games were not available at press time.
Visit www.tisworld.com/tournaments/vb_kauai.html for more information.
