LIHU‘E — “Wow!” was the first word out of Kaua‘i High School girls volleyball coach Shyanne “Shy” Sadora on Tuesday night following a night of marathon volleyball at the Kaua‘i High School gym.
Using that word to catch her breath, Sadora and the Lady Red Raiders endured a five-set scrap against the Kapa‘a High School varsity squad, 24-26, 25-19, 27-25, 23-25, and 15-7.
The night at the Kaua‘i High School gym was extended more when the Junior Varsity Lady Warriors battled through extra-point sets en route to its win over the JV Kaua‘i squad, 25-10, 31-29, and 25-12.
“Kudos to Kapa‘a,” Sadora said. “They came to play, and win.”
While leaving without the match win, the varsity Lady Warriors got a taste of winning after taking the second set, and coming back to force the fifth set after climbing to the top of the fourth set.
“Our girls can play,” Sadora said. “Lucky me. I can put them in other positions and they perform. They’re just aggressive and are trying to be confident. They were really scrappy out there. They tried to keep the ball from dropping.”
One of the obvious role changes for Kaua‘i was having its outside hitter Nahe Bukoski return to the floor in libero wear that she wore for the entire five sets.
The position change put pressure on Elise Yukimura who came through with a trio of whacks that pulled Kaua‘i ahead of an 18-19 deficit in the first set.
Kapa‘a answered with a solid Hailey Overmyer whack followed by Anjoelina Miyashiro coming up with an ace for the 22-21. A Kapa‘a service error knotted the contest until solid hits by Kaua‘i’s Yukimura, Edyn Naka‘ahiki pulled the Raiders up, 24-22 until a Kaua‘i service error turned the tide and Kapa‘a, following a Kaua‘i hit error, put the set away on back to back aces from Toni Umalla, 26-24.
With Bukoski donning the libero suit, Red Raider Jaclyn Oshiro took on the back row chores and served up a string of points, including an ace, in the second set that was peppered with hits from Yukimura, Keira Caoagas for the 22-14 go-ahead. Mikayla Alonzo’s move up the middle put the game away, 25-19.
Alonzo put up a string of points in the third set to break Kaua‘i away from an 18-18 deadlock. The string of serves was laced with hits from Yukimura. But facing the 24-19 deficit, Kapa‘a answered with Umalla coming up with a string of five unanswered points spiced with hits from Overmyer and Umalla to knot things up at 25. A pair of hitting errors gave the set to Kaua‘i.
Alonzo also broke the Raiders into the winner’s circle in the fifth set by coming up with a string of four serves, including an ace, that pulled Kaua‘i to a 15-7 win over Kapa‘a, the string being spiced with hits from Yukimura and Naka‘ahiki.
Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus, the Waimea Menehune split its series against the Voyagers when the JV Voyagers took the JV Menehune, 25-19, 20-25, and 25-22. The varsity Menehune kept its win streak going by downing Island School, 25-10, 25-16, 25-22.
Waimea will host Kapa‘a, Friday night at the Clem Gomes Gym while the Voyagers take the trip to the Kaua‘i High School gym. The JV games serve up from 5 p.m. at both locations with the varsity contests starting 25 minutes following the completion of the JV games.
Scoreboard
• Kapa‘a Junior Varsity/Kaua‘i JV: 25-10, 31-29, 25-12
• Kaua‘i Varsity/Kapa‘a: 24-26, 25-19, 27-25, 23-25, 15-7
• Island School JV/Waimea: 25-19, 20-25, 25-22
• Waimea Varsity/Island School: 25-10, 25-16, 25-22
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
