LIHU‘E — Kapa‘a High School girls volleyball picked up its third straight victory on Tuesday night to claim the lead in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation first round.
Playing before a good-sized audience at the new Kauai High School gymnasium, Kapaa took four sets to claim the night’s win, 25-23, 25-16, 20-25, and 25-15.
Kapaa pulled away from a 10-10 logjam in the first set when Kanani Silva peeled off five straight marks from the serving block, getting help with hammers from Carlyn Kamoku and Kanoe Haneberg.
The Lady Warriors held a 24-16 lead before Kauai answered to pull to with a point, 23-24 on a Kapaa hitting error. Down 20-24, Kauai got hits from Zariah Fernandez and Leila Caoagas to pull to the 23-24 mark before a Haneberg hammer put the set out of reach.
Helped by an ace from Keira Caoagas and a solid Red Raider block, Kauai pulled to a 7-2 lead in the third set. But the Lady Warriors came back to an 8-8 tie when Kauai was called for multiple hits.
A hit by Kapaa’s Jennifer Guerin knotted the set 10-10, and service error exchanges knotted the contest 16-16 before the Lady Warriors moved to a 19-18 bulge behind hits from Kamoku and Olivia Jenkins.
The Raiders took a 20-19 lead on a Kapaa net violation, and the Lady Warriors answered with a block in the middle for the 20-20 tie. Kauai capitalized on a pair of Kapaa hitting errors, a touch, and sealed the deal on a Kiriana Foster bang.
Earlier in the evening, the Kauai Junior Varsity notched its first season win, 25-21, 15-25, and 15-11 over the Kapaa JV girls.
Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium located on the Island School campus, the Voyagers took both the JV and varsity series over the Menehune.
Island School JV was 25-20, 25-23, and 15-9 victors over the JV Waimea, while on the varsity courts, the Voyager varsity finished with a win in four sets, 25-15, 25-20, 12-25, and 26-24.
The Voyagers next travel to the Bernice Hundley Gym to take on Kapa‘a on Friday while the Menehune make the trek to the new Kauai High School gymnasium to do battle with the Red Raiders.
The JV games are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at both sites with the varsity games serving up 25 minutes after the completion of the JV contests.
