KAPA‘A — Waimea girls volleyball head coach Chad Delanoza has preached consistency to his Menehune girls early on this season. That approach paid dividends Friday night.
The Menehune improved to 2-0 on the KIF season by downing the Kapa‘a Warriors (1-1) in straight sets, 25-17, 25-20, 25-13, at the Kapa‘a High School gym
The Menehune used a balanced attack to keep pressure on the Warriors and limited unforced errors.
“I thought we played well tonight,” Delanoza said. “There’s always room for improvement, but I thought we put forth a good effort. All of the little things that we’ve been working on in practice paid off for us tonight.”
The Menehune took advantage of many errors by the Warriors.
After winning the first game easily, the Menehune jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the second set. But following a timeout, the Warriors stormed back, going on an 8-0 run to tie the score at 12. With the Warriors serving for the lead, the ball sailed below the net, giving the possession back to the Menehune — and the momentum.
“When we went on that run there, we were able to keep the ball in play and didn’t have many errors,” Kapa‘a head coach Cory Morishita said. “Then we miss with that serve, just like we missed with a lot of other opportunities.”
Morishita, who is in his first year as the head coach of the Warriors, said he was impressed with the play of the Menehune.
“Waimea was a lot better than I thought they were going to be, Morishita said. “That team doesn’t make mistakes. They keep the ball in play.”
Kapa‘a is doing its best to compete early in the season after a summer of disruption. Because of the remodeling of the school gym, and the fact that Morishita wasn’t hired until late in the summer, the team has been forced to gel quickly.
“We’re a really young team with seven sophomores and a freshman on the roster,” Morishita said. “With how late we started, we’re really needing to catch up.”
The Warriors showed sparks of life throughout the match. In addition to the comeback in the second set, the Warriors mounted several solid rallies in the first and third sets.
But in order to top the Menehune, the Warriors needed to stay consistent on every point — a feat they failed to accomplish.
And when the Warriors made an error, Delanoza’s Menehune made sure to capitalize.
“We had a lot of opportunities to convert on tonight,” Delanoza said. “Our girls made the most out of those opportunities.”
The Menehune were led by Paige Ando who had 10 kills on the game. Vakeesha Lagazon added 6 kills.
For the Warriors, Kaylie Silva and Ciara Wainwright both had 6 kilss.
In JV action, the Menehune followed the lead of their varsity counterparts by sweeping the Warriors, 27-25, 29-27, 25-11.
Both teams return to action Tuesday night. Kapa‘a faces Kaua‘i at Kaua’i High School while Waimea travels to Island School to take on the Voyagers. Both games begin no earlier than 6 p.m.
