KAPAA — The Kapaa High School boys volleyball team, under the coaching of Kapule Kaona, needed four sets to take the Kauai Interscholastic Federation First Round on Friday at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
Playing before an audience that braved wind and rain, the Kapaa Junior Varsity fell to the Kauai High School JV, 25-20, 23-25 and 12-15. Following a strong Kapaa win in the first set, and a hard-fought second set that came up short, the Kauai High School players were the surprised group at the end of the third set where the dazed redshirts were trying to grasp reality.
On the varsity floor, Kapaa needed four sets to take the first round back to the locker room, 25-16, 14-25, 26-24 and 25-20.
Over at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea, Island School emerged victorious over the Menehune in straight sets, 3-0.
One of the strong forces for Kapaa was the performance of Emry Picturachsatit on both sides of the ball.
During the first set, following a see-saw battle to a 14-10 Kapaa lead, Picturachsatit took the service block and drove the Warriors to an 18-10 showing. Among the string of points, Warrior hitter Filisi Hunt gained the side and added a point along with Tyler Thornton before the teeter-toter resumed, and Picturachsatit delivering Kapaa to Point 24, and a net violation against Kauai sealed the set.
In response, Kauai, under coaching from Micah Young and a capable backup staff, performed very well on the court.
Barkley Gilman, one of the visible Red Raiders on the soccer fields and on the basketball courts, was joined by Caleb Schmaeling to plug the middle. Outside hitter and strong server recovered from a soggy Tuesday night against Island School, and was joined by Pierson Fox in hammering the holes.
Gilman served the Raiders to a 7-1 lead before Trestyn Reis took over in the service block to a 10-2 Kauai bulge, the second point hiccup coming from a Kauai service error. Kauai continued to surge until Gilman shut the door, 25-14 with a hit.
With the win, Kapaa closes the KIF first round with six wins and no losses. They are followed by Island School who ended Friday night with four wins and two losses. Waimea has two wins and four losses, and Kauai is still looking for its first “W.”
Round 2 starts on Tuesday when Island School meets Kapaa at the Bernice Hundley Gym in a single contest starting at 6:30 p.m.
Waimea will face Kauai High School at the new Kauai High School gymnasium. The JV games serves up from 5 p.m., and the varsity game starts 25 minutes following the end of the JV contest.
