KAPA‘A — The Island School boys varsity volleyball squad, 2022 Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation champions, and the Kaua‘i High School program, both unbeaten, face a pivotal contest on Tuesday night.
Both teams are battling for the lead in the KIF overall standings following the Friday night contests, when Island School finished with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-16) edge over Kapa‘a High, and the Kaua‘i High boys were 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-8, and 28-26) winners over Waimea High at Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea.
The Kapa‘a junior varsity squad swept its series over the Voyagers, 25-11, 16-7 and 16-11, at the Bernice Hundley Gym on the Kapa‘a campus. Over at Clem Gomes Gym, the Kaua‘i JV squad took all three matches, 25-9, 25-17 and 15-5, over the JV Menehune.
The varsity Warriors got off to a slow start, taking two sets to adjust to the court movement and hitting by the Voyagers’ Bodhi Jones, who worked the edge with his height advantage and hammering spikes.
Jones got help from the middle as Kaelen Suzuki-Kaohi peppered the middle with assistance from Lukas Myers and Michael Fitzgerald getting winning sets from Orion Magaoay.
Trailing 18-20 in the third set, Kapa‘a got help from Island School on a service error that narrowed the gap to a digit, 19-20. Moku Tolenoa served up three points, and got help from a Kyler Napoleon whack to take the lead 22-20.
Island School’s Jones answered with back-to-back whacks to knot the contest, 22-22, before a net violation and Voyager error gave Kapa‘a a taste of victory in the third set and necessitated a fourth set.
Island School will host Kaua‘i High on at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus in Puhi, while Kapa‘a opens the Bernice Hundley Gym to visiting Waimea squads. The junior varsity games at both sites serve up at 5 p.m., with the varsity contests to follow, but not earlier than 6:30 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
