PUHI — The Island School varsity boys volleyball squad took the lead in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation league standings following its 3-1 win over Kaua‘i High on Tuesday night at Wilcox Gymnasium on the school’s Puhi campus.
The Voyagers, defending KIF champions, went to hitters Bodhi Jones and Michael Fitzgerald to hammer out victories of 25-18, 26-28, 25-15 and 25-19 over the Red Raiders, who brought along a good-sized contingent of supporters braving the threat of rain.
Elsewhere in the KIF, Waimea needed four sets to get past Kapa‘a, 25-19, 15-25, 25-18 and 25-21 at the Bernice Hundley Gym on the Kapa‘a campus.
Kaua‘i High’s junior varsity team was a 3-0 winner (25-22, 28-26 and 15-7) over the JV Voyagers, and in Kapa‘a, Waimea’s JV team was a 2-1 winner, 25-21, 25-20 and 13-15, over the JV Warriors.
In varsity play, the Red Raiders kept looking for answers to the Jones whacking and a strong first-set block that settled the score, 19-15 in favor of the Voyagers. Matthew Dobashi took the service block to serve up four straight points that included a surprise hit from Orion Magaoay that coupled with a Kaua‘i High error and net violation.
Trailing 22-15, the Raiders answered with Syrus Delos Reyes, also doing service in the block, and a pair of Voyager errors to pull within four points before Magaoay and Jones hits put the set away.
The Raiders came back in the second set and took the lead for the first time, 9-8, behind a Delos Reyes bang. Breaking through at least four ties in the set, Kaua‘i High’s Noah Louis served up three points that included a whack from Kaidyn Yago and back-to-back Voyager net violations for the 21-18 go-ahead. Exhanging errors, Kaua‘i High put the period on the extra-point set behind hits from Yago and Delos Reyes for the 28-26 final.
The Voyagers continued behind strong digs from libero Mark Fitzgerald and the surprises that included Kash Lanini whack from behind his blocker for the remainder of the night, keeping the Raiders looking for answers to the Jones hammer.
With the win, Island School next makes the trip to the Clem Gomes Gym on the Waimea High campus on Friday, where they meet up with the Menehune. Kaua‘i High will make the trip to the Bernice Hundley Gym to face the Warriors, who are still looking for their first win. The JV games start at 5 p.m. at both locations, with the varsity contest to follow, but not starting 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.
