WAIMEA — During a season filled with five-set matches, the Waimea Lady Menehune (9-0) saved much of that drama for another night as they came away with a 3-0 sweep of the Kaua‘i Red Raiders, Tuesday night, by a 28-26,
WAIMEA — During a season filled with five-set matches, the Waimea Lady Menehune (9-0) saved much of that drama for another night as they came away with a 3-0 sweep of the Kaua‘i Red Raiders, Tuesday night, by a 28-26, 25-21, 25-17 tally.
That isn’t to say there was no drama at all, as the first two sets featured plenty of back-and-forth play. Kaua‘i (6-3) showed early on that it had plans on grabbing first place in the standings for the season’s second round, as the Raiders jumped out to a quick lead.
They moved ahead 11-5 in the opening set on a Saryna Garcia ace, but Waimea fought back to within one at 12-11. That 6-1 Menehune run featured an incredible shot from Vakeesha Lagazo that saw the libero go after the third hit off the court and almost parallel to the net. Her over-the-head, backwards shot came cross-court and cleared the top of the tape, landing on the opposite side for a winner that appeared to be an illusion.
Kaua‘i re-gained the momentum and pulled ahead 22-15, ready to take the 1-0 lead. The Raiders held steady and had four set points at 24-20, before the Lady Menehune showed their mettle.
A four-point run from Waimea featured two Tatiana Rita kills, as well as a Lagazo ace, knotting things up at 24-24.
Kaua‘i picked up another set point on a service error, but Brandee Victorino evened things again with a kill on a Searra Kaohi feed.
The Raiders grabbed their sixth set point as Reanna Javinar finished off a Waileia Kaneali‘i pass, but it was Rita again who leveled the set at 26-26 with a kill.
Victorino gave Waimea its one and only set point with her fourth kill of the set, followed by a Jayme Jacinto smash on a Fiare Moe set to send Waimea to the 28-26 win.
The Raiders took the first four points of the second set, but saw the Lady Menehune go on a 9-3 run, including two Victorino aces, for a 9-7 lead.
Kaua‘i libero Noe Tamashiro was injured on the point creating the 9-7 score, as she went for a successful dig, but fell to the ground awkwardly and hit the back of her head on the wooden floor.
She remained on the floor for a number of minutes as she was treated by medical personnel on hand, then taken out of the gym via stretcher.
Further information was unavailable as of press time.
Waimea never surrendered the lead for the rest of the set, building its lead to as many as six at 21-15.
Kaua‘i saved two set points to get within three at 24-21, but a Raiders shot found the net, putting them in an 0-2 hole.
The third set saw a similar route, as Kaua‘i evened the score at 7-7 on a Teal Basquez smash that may have been the loudest and hardest hit shot of the evening.
Tied at 10-10, Waimea used a 9-2 run to take much of the fight out of the Kaua‘i side. It got a Jacinto ace to gain seven match points at 24-17, but needed only one as a Raider shot hit the net to end the evening.
Rita was the top finisher for Waimea, compiling 11 kills. She added three blocks and two digs.
Victorino tallied 10 kills, 13 blocks and three aces. Jacinto had nine kills, six digs and three blocks.
Kaohi and Moe each led their side with 12 assists, while Lagazo had seven digs.
Malia Kagawa notched 12 kills for Kaua‘i, adding three digs. Basquez had nine kills, four digs and three blocks.
Shyanne Sadora had seven kills and a team-high eight blocks.
Kaneali‘i had a match-high 25 assists and four digs.
In the evening’s junior varsity match, Waimea pulled out a 2-1 comeback victory over Kaua‘i, 15-25, 25-21, 25-14.
Island School also took on Kapa‘a, Tuesday evening, though results from that match were unavailable as of press time.
