WAIMEA — Tierra Washington hammered, Wednesday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball game against Waimea at the Clem Gomes Gym.
The Kapaa outside hitter joined by another Washington, Talia Washington, and other wahine Warriors Lani Alo, and Cory Anela Kilar in pounding the ball against the Menehune defense. The effort came up short, though, as the Menehune defense rose against the pounding to claim the game in straight sets — 25-16, 25-14, and 25-12.
“The girls stuck together, but they started out too late,” said Kapaa coach Ari Logan. “We just had a late start. You can’t start late and expect to win games.”
On the defensive side, Kapaa libero Kalista Brigante coughed up some tough balls, and combined with the setting led by Maeha Piturachsatit, set the floor for the Warrior offense that pounded, stuttered, and pounded some more.
Waimea mixed its defensive showing with Isabella Bateman getting key blocks and setter Braeanna Moises mixing the set bag to keep the Warrior defense on its toes.
“This was an exciting game to watch,” said Waimea coach Brandi Hori-Moises. “We worked on defense, made some adjustments during the break, and defense carried us, tonight. You have to respect Kapaa, too. They came to play, and if you let down your guard, they’ll take it to you.”
Raelee Samio’s hitting set the pace for Waimea, getting the side on a 6-3 advantage in the opening set, and stringing together five unanswered points to a 12-3 advantage from the service block. Samio also served up an ace and pounded home a point in building the hole.
Facing a 6-22 deficit, the wahine Warriors answered when Chelsea Schneider took the service block for a string bringing the Warriors to a 13-20 gap. The string was fueled by a pair of Menehune miscues and a pair of Tierra Washington pounds and a bang from Alo before Tehani Togioka stopped the run on a hit from the back row.
Kilar served up an ace, and Tierra Washington marked another hit, but the effort fell short as Waimea’s Kalea Hui Hui-Caberto sealed the deal.
“Those who needed to step up did, tonight,” Hori-Moises said.
Bateman sealed the second set on a sweep to the middle, and a Warrior passing error closed the night in the third set.
“We’ll be back in the gym, working,” Logan said. “We’re still recovering from that virus that hit us at the end of Round 1, and we just need to learn how to start strong.”
Over at the Kauai High School gym, Island School girls faced a 1-2 deficit and had to dig deep against Kauai High School to finish by taking the match in five sets — 22-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-20, and 15-5 — to set up a major showdown, Saturday night when the Menehune travel to the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus as the Voyager women look to wrestle a win from the Menehune.
“We’re going back to the drawing board,” Hori-Moises said. “We have to prepare, and make adjustments.”
Earlier in the evening, the Menehune Junior Varsity emerged a straight-set winner over the Warrior JV after having to come back in two of the three sets contested on the floor of the Clem Gomes — 25-10, 26-24, 25-21.
During the comeback, the JV Menehune worked around the core of its four strong middles — Leo Fernandez, Hunter Akita, Mareta Egan, and Safina Sandblom — with both defense and offense.
“We had to come back from a 3-10 deficit in both sets,” said Waimea JV coach Lauriana Pereira. “It’s nice to see the improvement from Round 1, our Fernandez had never touched a volleyball until just a few months ago.”
Bailey San Agustin-Nordmeier, one of the JV Menehune assistants, said the team started strong in Round 1, but could not close the door. During the opener of Round 2, the team changed up by starting slow and rising to close the door.
Over at the Kauai High School gym, the JV Red Raiders took the Island School JV in straight sets — 25-21, 25-14, and 25-20.
The next KIF girls volleyball hit the floor, Saturday when Waimea comes to the Island School home, and Kauai High School travels to the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapaa. The junior varsity contests serve up from 5 p.m. at both locations with the varsity contests to follow.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
