LIHU‘E — It seems that there’s never a dull moment when the Kaua‘i girls take the floor. In already their third five-set match of the season, the Red Raiders came away with a 25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12 victory over
LIHU‘E — It seems that there’s never a dull moment when the Kaua‘i girls take the floor.
In already their third five-set match of the season, the Red Raiders came away with a 25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12 victory over the Kapa‘a Lady Warriors, Friday night at the Raider Dome.
The back-and-forth match was the second five-setter these two teams have played in their two meetings so far this season, Kaua‘i coming out on top each time.
After committing numerous errors and letting Kapa‘a get its confidence in a one-sided fourth set, Kaua‘i flipped the script again and took a 5-1 lead in the deciding frame, forcing a Kapa‘a timeout.
The Raiders maintained their advantage and grabbed a 13-8 lead, but the Warriors didn’t quit, winning four of the next five points to get back within two at 14-12.
The Warriors’ Jessilyn Artaho-Aki fed Tylenn Morita for the kill to save the second match point, but Kaua‘i put it away on the third, as Reanna Javinar rose above the net to block a Kapa‘a shot and watched it fall to the floor on the opposite side.
Teal Basquez led Kaua‘i with 13 kills on the night, notching seven of them in the opening set.
Shyanne Sadora followed with 11 kills, also adding six blocks.
Javinar had eight kills and nine blocks. Malia Kagawa led all players with 31 assists, also displaying an overpowering serve that led to four aces.
Artaho-Aki had a big night from all parts of the court, finishing with 17 assists, 12 blocks and seven kills.
Hartley Dabin had eight kills, while Morita added seven. Tiore Daligcon had 12 blocks as part of Kapa‘a’s big front line, while Ciarra Wainwright had eight and Justice Kimura added four.
Shannon Paleka came up with a number of critical digs and finished the match with eight.
Kaua‘i ran out to an early lead by using an 11-1 run in the opening set, much of it coming off of Kagawa’s jump serve, to go ahead 15-5. Kapa‘a responded and got within four on three separate occasions, but Basquez fired an ace on the Raiders’ first set point to take the opener, 25-19.
The second set was going Kaua‘i’s way, as well, after Kagawa’s second ace made it 10-4. This time Kapa‘a made a big run of its own, winning 11 of the next 13 points, capped by a Marisa Sanchez-Dunning ace to take a 15-12 lead.
The set remained tight, but Kaua‘i was never able to pull even. Leading 24-20, Dabin finished off an Artaho-Aki pass to square the match at a set apiece.
The third set seemed to turn with Kapa‘a leading 16-14. The Lady Warriors were penalized for an illegal substitution, at which point, the Raiders went on a 10-1 to hold seven set points at 24-17.
Kapa‘a managed to save the first four, but a Basquez kill gave Kaua‘i the 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set stood at 15-14 Kapa‘a, this time the Warriors making a closing run of their own as they only gave up one more point. Wainwright put on the finishing touch with a kill to force the deciding fifth set.
In the night’s opening contest, the Kaua‘i junior varsity squad managed a sweep of Kapa‘a with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-20 victory.
On the Westside, the Waimea Lady Menehune swept the Island School Voyagers by a score of 25-8, 25-8, 25-10 in the varsity contest.
They also swept the JV series, 25-11, 25-13, 25-23.
On Tuesday night, Kapa‘a (1-3) will host Waimea (4-0), while Island School (0-4) will host Kaua‘i (3-1).
JV begins at 5 p.m., followed by varsity no earlier than 6:30 p.m.
