KAPAA — Waimea High School volleyball coach Brandi Hori-Moises knew playing Kapaa High School during her team’s senior night wouldn’t be easy, and it wasn’t.
All season the Menehune volleyball team remained unbeaten, but they were playing Kapaa, a senior-laden group that gave the Waimea tough matches during the year, and the Warriors struggled to defeat them.
Waimea High captured the match in a four-game set 25-13, 15-25, 25-14, 25-21. This was a critical victory for Menehune in their effort to qualify for the state.
The Warriors experienced a lot of jubilation celebrating their senior night. In that early momentum, the seven seniors, including a junior graduating early, were celebrating years of playing together, and that carried them to a 25-15 second-game victory over one of the top-tier island teams.
The atmosphere and the electrifying energy of the Kapaa gym, and the match was a good tune-up for a state-bound Menehune team getting ready to play in playoff environments.
“That was the type of atmosphere we need to play in. That is an environment that we aren’t used to, and I am glad we had the opportunity to play in an environment like that.”
During the first game of the match, Waimea’s Isabella Bateman was a player the Warriors struggled to contain as she anchored her team to a 25-13 victory in the first match.
During the second match, the Warriors established momentum winning 25-15, and Warriors’ head coach Ari Logan, who knew her team was feeding off the energy of senior night, was proud of her team’s effort.
“It was our senior night. There was a lot of energy, momentum and excitement around, and that was the last time our girls would be playing in their home gym. Playing with a lot of energy is something that we’ve struggled with all season, but there was a lot of hype around this match, and our girls responded.”
The Warriors, which lost the previous three matches to Menehune, struggled against the power of the front line and the efficiency of the team’s back row, but still made two of the four games of the match.
“We’ve gone toe to toe with them all season, and we knew it was going to be a good match because they are a good team with great coaches,” Logan said. “They’ve always had a solid program with good skills, and we are glad we got to play them on senior night.”
During the third and fourth game of the match, the Menehunes got equal production out of Bateman, Makeyah Wisneski, and Raelee Samio in two games that provided them a challenge in the match.
Waimea captured the final two games of the match 25-14 and 25-21, and according to Hori-Moises, it was a good tune-up for moving to the state.
“We are still fixing the small things, and working on taking control of the match,”Hori-Moises said. “In volleyball, nothing is guaranteed, but I must congratulate the Kapaa seniors. They’ve improved, and they’ve brought their ‘A’ game each and every time we’ve faced them.”
Logan was proud of her team’s efforts in spite of losing the match.
The Kapaa Junior Varsity swept Waimea 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 in three consecutive matches.
“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs during the season, and it was good to finish the season on a good note,” Logan said. “It was a great night for our seniors. Next year, we will have a solid group of seven sophomores, and I think the transition hopefully will be seamless. This good group of seven seniors has kept us grounded.”
Headed into the final stretch of the season, the Menehune are closing in the qualifying for a birth in the state playoffs if they can defeat Island School next Tuesday.
The match will be played next Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Island School.
Headed into one of the final matches of the regular season, Waimea hopes to head into state with an unblemished record, and close capturing state with a victory agianst Island.
The Menehune is set to play Kauai in their season-finale.
Waimea captured the final two games of the match 25-14 and 25-21, and according to Hori-Moises, it was a good tune-up for moving to the state.
“We are still fixing the small things, and working on taking control of the match,” Hori-Moises said. “In volleyball, nothing is guaranteed.”
Logan was proud of her team’s efforts in spite of losing the match.
The Kapaa Junior Varsity swept Waimea 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 in three consecutive matches.
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Jason Blasco, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
