KAPA’A – The Waimea boys and girls varsity squads (7-1 overall, 3-1 second round) jumped a half game up in the standings and clinched at least a tie for the Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation second round prep volleyball crown with exciting
KAPA’A – The Waimea boys and girls varsity squads (7-1 overall, 3-1 second round) jumped a half game up in the standings and clinched at least a tie for the Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation second round prep volleyball crown with exciting wins over the Kapa’a Warriors at the noisy Bernice Hundley Gymnasium last night.
Waimea 12-10, 8-13, 15-4
The Menehune girls survived a grueling three set match against a highly motivated Warriors team saying goodbye to five seniors in their final home contest.
With time expired, Britnee Boeder’s service ace tied the opener at 10-10 and a Virginia Aguilar kill of a Warrior overpass put the visitors up for good. Outside hitter Robyn Arrington put away the game winner with a strong swing off the block.
Kapa’a stormed back in the second set on the strength of setter Ihilani Yama’s 10 assists and the well-placed kills of middle Kelly McBride and hitter Amniesty Ragsac. The Warriors jumped out to a 12-5 advantage and were never headed before the game clock ticked off.
Boeder picked up the offensive pace in the deciding game and helped Waimea jump out to a double-digit lead. The tenacious Menehune back court scrambled for 23 of their 67 match digs in the final set and, despite the one-sided score, felt lucky to end the night on top.
“Kapa’a played an outstanding game tonight,” Waimea head coach Dr. Paul Arrington acknowledged, “and I hope they continue to do so on Saturday. Ihi (Yama) and the seniors just did not quit- they played a great, great game and deserve a lot of credit. Their coaches did a wonderful job with them. It was a real pleasure to play against these kids.”
Waimea was led by the overall floor play of setter Ashlee Vea (30 assists, 3 kills, 14 digs) and the strong right arm of outside hitter Boeder (game-high 12 kills, 15 digs). Virginia Aguilar (7 kills, 2 solo blocks) proved to be a major force at the net for the victors. Other standouts include Arrington (5 kills, 10 digs), Michelle Takashima (9 digs), and Faa Taala (4 kills, 3 digs).
The Warriors were paced by the no-quit efforts of Yama (22 assists, 6 digs), Sharlene Carillo (5 kills, 13 digs), Ragsac (team-high 11 kills, 15 digs), Tescily Maguire (5 assists, 6 kills, 11 digs), McBride (7 kills, 6 digs), and Uluwehi Torio (2 kills, 2 solo blocks, 3 digs).
Waimea 15-7, 14-16, 15-11
The Waimea boys pulled out a thrilling one-hour-forty minute, three-set playoff caliber squeaker against an intensely determined Kapa’a squad.
Due to the match’s late conclusion, the complete game article and results will be posted in tomorrow’s TGI edition.
Despite their fall from contention, the Warriors (1-6, 1-2) hope to play the role of spoiler as they travel to Lihue on Saturday to take on the Raiders (3-4, 2-1) in the KIF regular season finale. Raider victories would force Kaua’i-Waimea second round playoffs with the location to be determined by a coin flip after Saturdays contests. Kapa’a wins would clinch the overall league title and the lone league berth to the upcoming HHSAA state tournaments in Hilo for the Menehune.
