PUHI — Kapa‘a High School’s boys volleyball team came away in straight sets, Tuesday night to open the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys volleyball season at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus.
The Warriors shortened the evening by controlling the Voyagers in straight sets, 25-8, 25-6, 25-18, following the Junior Varsity series where Kapa‘a emerged a 2-1 winner after dropping its first set to the Voyagers, 13-25, and rebounding with sets of 25-23, and 25-19.
“This is a great starting game,” said Kapa‘a coach Kapule Kaona. “The boys had their case of first-game nerves and excitement. But they were able to control the game, and the energy, and focus on the fundamentals.”
During the outing, Kapa‘a systematically disassembled the Voyager attack, getting key blocks from both the middle and the outside. Duke Bush, La‘akea Gonsalves, Justin Faidley, and Alaka‘i Gonsalves unleashed hammers to drive the Warriors home.
“This was a rough night,” said Island School coach Erin Nitta. “We’ve only been in the gym for two weeks before tonight, and we’ve got players missing and injured. Our boys had to play where we put them just to fill the gaps.”
Despite the handicap, the Voyagers managed blocks, one coming from setter Joshua Dobashi against a slam from La‘akea Gonsalves in the second set, and were able to get some kills through the efforts of John Bancroft and Hanalei Wann-Keli‘iho‘omalu. Ka‘ohu Ranis came off the bench to generate some effective serves before the audience of an army of Voyager coaches.
“We believe in the boys,” Nitta said. “These coaches are committed to grow the program because they believe in the boys and their growth toward being athletes. The boys were doing as best as they could. We made some kills, they were making some passes, and we have nothing but commendations for their focus in setting the foundation.”
Kaona was equally proud of his team, most notably for being in control and not letting the game get ahead of the players.
“There was good team energy out there,” he said. “We still have work to do — our transition game was a little slow, and we can work on service, receiving, and passing. But overall, it’s going to be another exciting season.”
Kapa‘a next hosts Waimea High School, Friday at the Bernice Hundley Gym with the JV games starting at 5 p.m. and the varsity games to f0llow.
Kaua‘i High School will make its season debut by traveling to the Wilcox Gymnasium to take on the Island School Voyagers with the JV games starting at 5 p.m. and the varsity match to follow.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
