PUHI — Looking to avoid their second straight defeat, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders maintained their lead in the standings by surviving a tight match against the Island School Voyagers, Tuesday night at the Island School Gym. Kaua‘i ended up with
PUHI — Looking to avoid their second straight defeat, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders maintained their lead in the standings by surviving a tight match against the Island School Voyagers, Tuesday night at the Island School Gym.
Kaua‘i ended up with a 3-0 victory, but won by set scores of 28-26, 29-27, 25-16. The Raiders had to save three set points in the opener, then four more in the second set after seeing a nine-point lead evaporate.
The Waimea Menehune kept themselves alive for a first-round title with a comeback win over the Kapa‘a Warriors. Waimea was the 3-2 winner over Kapa‘a by scores of 25-18, 20-25, 24-26, 25-22, 15-7. The Menehune (3-2) now sit one game behind the Raiders (4-1) and the two will play one another in Friday’s first-round finale.
A Kaua‘i win gives it the first-round title, while a Waimea win would force a first-round playoff between the same two teams.
The loss eliminates the Warriors (2-3) from first-round contention.
In Puhi, Donovan Harrison had a match-high 17 kills to go along with five blocks and an ace for the Raiders.
Blaise Ferguson put up 11 kills with two digs and Dane Bautista finished with eight kills and 1.5 blocks. Joseph Machado put up five kills and five blocks, while Kaleo Tin had five kills, a block and an ace.
Jon Butac had a match-high 37 assists to go with 2.5 blocks and two aces.
Sam Dunham led the balanced Voyager attack with seven kills, while Brennan Wortmann had six kills, 2.5 blocks, two digs and an assist. J-Riley Louis finished with four kills, while Canaan Higa had three kills and seven blocks.
Logan Domingo had a team-high 17 assists, as well as three kills and seven blocks. Makana Ledesma led all players with seven digs and Ryan Perez added three blocks for Island School.
The Voyagers (1-4) played well from the start and took their biggest lead at 13-9 in the opening set. The Raiders (4-1) got even again at 15-15 on a Kevin Reyes ace, one of his three on the night. But Island School gained control again and picked up three set points at 24-21 after Dunham finished off a Domingo feed. Kaua‘i erased the first two, then tied the score as a Machado shot just limped over the net for a 24-24 score.
The Raiders gained control again on a Voyager service error and had their third set point, which they finally converted as Butac set up Harrison for the kill and 1-0 lead.
The second set was all Raiders early, as they used a 6-1 run to move ahead 16-7. Still trailing by nine at 18-9, the Voyagers stormed back with a 10-1 run to even the score, capped by a Dunham ace for 19-19. Island School picked up a set point when a Kaua‘i error made it 24-23, but Harrison and Bautista responded with a tandem block to save the point and even things up again. A Bautista kill saved another Voyager set point, after Ferguson had made a diving dig to keep the point alive and tie the score at 25-25.
Higa and Wortmann each had kills to give Island School two more set points, but the Raiders responded each time with big saves, until they got an ace from Tin for a 28-27 lead. After saving four set points, Kaua‘i made it 2-0 in the match when an Island School shot sailed deep.
Holding a 15-14 lead, Kaua‘i ended up closing out the match with a 10-2 run, which included a pair of Reyes aces and another from Anderson Baloran. The Raiders won it on their first match point when a Voyager kill attempt went long.
In the Kaua‘i-Island School JV match, the Raiders squad won with set scores of 25-12 and 25-19.
Kapa‘a JV was victorious in three sets over Waimea, 25-22, 25-27, 25-23.
The boys are back on the floor Friday, when Kaua‘i hosts Waimea and Kapa‘a hosts Island School. JV will get underway at 5 p.m., with varsity to follow.
