LIHU‘E — The Island School boys volleyball program got some help Friday from the Kapa‘a Warriors in their climb to the crown of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys volleyball first round.
The Warriors, visiting Waimea High School at the Clem Gomes Gym, improved to its second win of the season after getting past Waimea in five sets, 26-28, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-13.
That was the help available to Island School, which did not need the extra leverage after getting past Kaua‘i High School in straight sets, 25-22, 25-19, and 25-18 to clinch the first round.
Earlier in the evening, the Waimea Junior Varsity were straight set winners of the JV Warriors, 25-21, 25-14, and 15-11.
Over at the Kaua‘i High School, the Red Raiders JV were victorious in three sets, 25-23, 25-18, and 15-14, the final set match not going to the traditional two-point advantage because, according to court officials, the Voyagers only played to the 15-point game despite having the momentum to earn points.
Rumbling behind the strong showing by Voyager Bodhi Jones, the Island School left little wiggle room for the Red Raiders, which struggled against court errors, and a number of net violations and lifts.
Jones broke a 16-16 first set deadlock to serve up points to a 21-17 lead that included a pair of hits from Kash Lanini and a crowd-pleasing whack from Orion Magaoay.
The Red Raiders answered when Bryan Brown served up four straight points, aided by a Kaua‘i block, and hits from Syrus Delos Reyes for the 22-23 deficit.
The Voyagers answered the challenge with hits from Ian Bollman, and Jones, who hammered the 25-22 final.
Lukas Myers strung up a seven-point string of point from the service black in Set 2 that settled the lights at a 22-10 Voyager bulge, the string getting a hit by Jones and a Voyager block along with Raider errors, including a net violation.
The Voyagers were called on a net violation of their own during a string of serves by Kaua‘i’s Kala‘i Esteban, who served to a 14-23 deficit, peppered by a hit from Noah Louis.
A Jones hammer cut the string at 23-14, and Kala Edwards took the service block for a five-point string to 19-23 before the Raiders suffered another net violation, and Magaoay sealing the deal, 25-19.
The KIF opens Round 2 on Tuesday when Kaua‘i High School visits Kapa‘a at Bernice Hundley Gym, and Waimea hosts Island School at Clem Gomes Gym. The JV games at both sites start at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity game, 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.
