KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a High School and Island School will be participating in a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation varsity boys volleyball playoff for the second-round crown Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus.
The playoff is mandated after Waimea High downed the first-round champ Voyagers at Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea Friday.
The varsity Menehune upset the visiting Voyagers in four sets.
A win by the varsity Voyagers at Waimea would have ended the season regardless of the outcome of the Friday match at the Bernice Hundley Gym between host Kapa‘a and visiting Kaua‘i High. The Voyager win would’ve given Island School the second-round and overall KIF title, as Island School took the first-round crown.
Instead, the Kapa‘a win over Kaua‘i High in five sets puts the Warriors in a tie with the Voyagers for the second-round crown.
The Voyagers claimed the junior varsity games at Waimea Friday, 2-1.
Also Friday, the JV contests saw Kaua‘i High victorious, 25-22, 25-21 and 15-25 against the Warriors.
During the varsity matches, Kapa‘a took the marathon first two sets, 27-25 and 32-30 before dropping the third set, 15-25. Kaua‘i High forced the fifth set after overtaking Kapa‘a in the fourth set and holding on for a 25-22 win that came on a Warrior passing error.
Following an early lead in the fifth set, Kapa‘a allowed the Raiders to catch up on a pair of errors coupled by a hit from Kaua‘i High’s Ernesto Alcones. The Warriors broke an 8-8 stalemate as Poki Tafea smacked one, followed by Kala Rall nailing a pair of hammers that coupled with Raider mistakes for a 12-8 advantage.
Kaua‘i High answered with back-to-back whacks from Noah Louis, but could only get to 11 before Kapa‘a nailed the evening on hits by Anthony Durocher and James Kessler, 15-11.
Should Kapa‘a take today’s playoff contest, they would be the second-round champs and force another playoff game for the overall KIF title.
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
