LIHU‘E — Nobody wanted to leave the Raider Dome. Least of all the Waimea Lady Menehune, who took the longest and strangest of trips right to the top of the KIF standings. In a match that will be difficult to
LIHU‘E — Nobody wanted to leave the Raider Dome.
Least of all the Waimea Lady Menehune, who took the longest and strangest of trips right to the top of the KIF standings.
In a match that will be difficult to top in terms of both excitement and suspense, Waimea came back from an 0-2 deficit to move to 3-0 on the season with a 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 18-16 win over the Kaua‘i Red Raiders, Tuesday night at Kaua‘i High School.
Having dropped the opening two sets, Waimea regained its composure and high level of play to square the match at two sets apiece to force the decisive fifth frame.
Down two points early, Waimea rattled off five straight to take an 8-5 lead as the two teams changed ends.
Not to be outdone, Kaua‘i stormed back and seemed poised to give Waimea its first KIF loss since 2008. The Raiders took seven straight points, which included back-to-back kills by Shyanne Sadora and a Malia Kagawa ace to move out to a 12-8 lead, three points from a victory.
The streakiness of the match did not stop there, with the Lady Menehune fighting back to win six straight points of their own and had two match points at 14-12.
Kaua‘i fought back and another Sadora finish on a Kagawa feed saved the first match point, before a Waimea shot sailed long to again tie things up at 14-14.
The two teams continued to trade points, with Kaua‘i fighting off a total of four match points while never having one for itself.
The fifth match point was one too many for the Raiders to fend off, as a Kaua‘i kill attempt landed wide of the court to send the Lady Menehune jumping for joy with an 18-16, final set victory.
Jayme Jacinto was the top scorer for Waimea with 17 kills on the night, including four in the final set.
Brandee Victorino played big at the net with 11 kills and eight blocks. Mariah Oliver also added five kills and seven blocks.
Setter Fiare Moe led the team with 17 assists, followed by Searra Kaohi’s eight.
Robin Moura notched five kills, seven blocks and four digs.
For the Raiders, Sadora led her side with 12 kills. She also added six blocks.
Reanna Javinar had nine kills and eight blocks at the net. Jennifer Grady had eight kills and four digs, while Teal Basquez had seven kills and four digs.
Kagawa set up her teammates with a match-high 30 assists to go with seven kills. Waileia Kanealii had six assists, three kills and two aces.
The two teams traded the lead in the opening set, with Waimea going up by four at 12-8 before Kaua‘i went on a 10-2 run to move in front, 18-14.
Leading 24-19, Kaua‘i allowed Waimea to stay alive and the Menehune won four straight points to get within one, before Kagawa ended the set by hitting the second shot over, catching her opponents off-guard.
The second set was close throughout and Basquez finished a big kill to give the Raiders a 22-20 edge. Jacinto got Waimea back within one with a kill of her own, but on Kaua‘i’s first set point at 24-21, a Menehune shot found the net, sending Kaua‘i up 2-0 in the match.
Waimea gained control early in the third set, using an 11-2 run to take a six-point lead and eventually moved ahead by as many as 10 points at 19-9.
Kaua‘i fought is way all the way back to within three, but Waimea had built too much of a lead and went on to take the set, 25-19.
The fourth set was again all Waimea from the start, with two Jacinto aces putting the Lady Menehune up 19-8. Kaua‘i again rallied to get within three at 22-19, but on its third set point, Waimea evened the contest on a Jacinto cross-court kill.
In other varsity action Tuesday night, the Kapa‘a Lady Warriors got their first win of the season with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-18 win over the Island School Voyagers. That victory moves Kapa‘a to 1-2, dropping Island School to 0-3.
Waimea (3-0) sits atop the standings as Kaua‘i (2-1) falls to second place.
In junior varsity action, Waimea won a close match against Kaua‘i, 26-24, 25-23, before Kaua‘i took the third set by a 25-16 final.
Across town, Kapa‘a JV notched a 25-4, 25-11, 25-19 win over Island School.
