Interrupting History
The girls volleyball vault on the island of Kaua’i had been, for 28 years,
property of Waimea High School. The Menehunes held tightly to the lock, the
key, the code, whatever.
But, in a not-so-secret operation, 14 girls from
Kaua’i High School cheered for each other and together squeezed their hair in
unifying braids and smiled and laughed.
And in that they discovered the
code.
For the first time since 1972, when girls high school volleyball
began on the island, a team other than Waimea will represent Kaua’i at the
state tournament: The 2000 Kaua’i Red Raiders, coached by Richard Roberts, and
captained by Heather Roberts, Danielle Kiyabu and Kim Downing.
When the
final ball found the floor last Saturday night at Waimea, sealing the KIF crown
for Kaua’i, the outpouring of emotion was real, according to Richard.
“Tears came from people we might not have expected. There was real
feeling.”
Those feelings exceeded even typical emotion for the coach’s
daughter, Heather, and cooled a fire that has been burning for her entire high
school career.
“This was a phase in my life,” said the senior. “Winning the
KIF was something I planned for and needed to do. I now feel like I can move
onto the next phase, move onto college.”
Of course there is the matter of a
state tournament first, but the importance for these girls in finally scaling
the KIF hump is clear.
The three captains, along with senior-setter Rona
Nishikawa, have been together “for 10 years” according to Heather, and have had
their sights on unseating the Menehunes since they stepped foot in a Kaua’i
hallway 3 1/2 years ago as freshmen. They all played together under the
watchful eye of Richard and Waimea coach Dr. Paul Arrington at the Ho’oikaika
Volleyball Club on the westside.
But the girls wanted something
different.
“I could have gone to Waimea, but I wanted something different,”
Heather said. “I know I came over here because, honestly, I wanted to be part
of a team that knocked Waimea off.”
So the girls became Red Raiders. With
them came middle blocker Misty Hug, also a senior this year, and the five
formed the unit that would experience plenty together in their effort to find
the off switch to Waimea’s winning machine.
Needless to say, this crowning
of Kaua’i did not happen overnight.
All five seniors, Roberts, Downing,
Kiyabu, Nishikawa and Hug, played their freshmen year on the JV level under
Richard’s direction. “As a gifted defensive specialist,” Kiyabu got pulled up
to varsity that first year, Richard said.
Then as sophomores, today’s
seniors moved up to the varsity level, and Richard got his hands on a new crop
of freshman to mold for a year. That gave the coach the opportunity to work
with Tiana Lum-Tucker, Kehaulani Regidor and Kareen Konishi, girls who were
vital components of the Kaua’i effort this year.
“Our juniors were
outstanding,” Heather said. “We always know we can turn to Tiana when we need a
big kill, and the others were great.
“Plus, there’s no way to describe how
awesome the bench was. They were always screaming and hollering and giving us
support. There’s no way we do what we do without them.”
In 1998, the team –
and this core of girls – stole a match from Waimea, the first time that had
ever happened. In 1999, two matches were taken, a playoff – which Waimea won –
was forced. The inevitable seemed to be gaining steam, seemed ready to charge
ahead at breakneck speed.
“That was really disappointing for them,” said
Richard, who is coaching just his second year at the varsity level. “When they
forced the playoff, they really wanted the win. It was hard for them not to get
it.”
But the spirit was renewed for 2000.
“We set goals at the
beginning of the season,” Heather said. “We wanted to win the first round, then
win the KIF, then go see how well we could do at states.”
How they did
it
The same three words poured from both Arrington and Richard when
asked what it was about this Kaua’i team that made them winners.
“They were
consistent,” according to each coach. “They didn’t make a whole lot of
mistakes,” Arrington said. “They passed well, kept the ball in play and just
played solid volleyball.”
Because the Raiders’ core had played together for
so long, they seemed to feed off of unspoken bonds. This allowed for a lot of
movement on offense, an awareness by Nishikawa – the setter – of where her
hitters were going to be.
“I thought she was great at moving the ball
around this year,” Downing said. “She kept defenses off guard and kept all the
hitters in the game by switching it up.”
The Red Raiders’ defense may have
been even more consistent than the offense.
Whether sticking blocks or
digging balls, Richard said early in the season that his girls were going to
pride themselves on defense.
But perhaps the year’s biggest boost came from
middles Downing and Hug. The former stands 5-foot-9, the latter 5-11 and each
pounded away at the ball and stuffed opponents’ kill attempts with
regularity.
“Our middles were great,” Richard said. “And we’re going to
continue to go to them at the state tournament.”
Team, Team,
Team
One does not unseat a champ by him or herself. In fact, just try
and talk to the coach or co-captains about individual performances; you won’t
get very far.
“We’re not really about the individual thing,” Downing said.
“And the support here is amazing. They (the bench) cheer for you when you do
something well and pick you up when you do something bad.
“During the
preseason, I think people in the stands were watching our bench more than they
were watching us because they were yelling and screaming so much.”
In
reality, those fans might have been caught in a stare because of the patterns
crafted atop each Raiders’ head.
“Bonded In Braids” might have been an
appropriate team motto.
“Yeah, I guess that was our way of saying, ‘This is
how tight we are. If we all do this together, nothing can pull us apart,'”
Downing said of the braided hair.
But that bench, and those non-starters
were not there just to cheer and slap behinds. On the contrary, the captains,
as well as Richard, gave high marks to the push the reserves provided in
practice.
Ashley Tanaka, Tiare Toulon, Ashley Nagaoka, Erin Garlie, Ashley
Kawaihalau and Kandice Cummings put all kinds of pressure on the first team
during the long days of preparation between matches.
“They were awesome,”
Kiyabu said. “We [the starters] got a challenge everyday, and those girls got
us ready to play matches.”
The fact is, as a collective unit, the Raiders
seem to lack the ability to praise themselves.
Downing, a vital part of
Kaua’i’s success this season, could not find the words to describe the
importance of herself and Hug to the Raiders. But praising others gushed with
fluidity from her wide smile.
“Our juniors were awesome, just awesome,” she
said. “A lot of credit goes to them, and to Rona (setter) and our other
seniors.”
Selflessness, apparently, equals victory.
The
Past
Retrospect may prove that, for these girls, 1999 was the most
important aspect of their 2000 KIF championship.
There was genuine pain and
frustration, especially for the seniors, when the team took the second round
from Waimea last year, but was unable to defeat the Menehunes in a one-game
playoff.
It also may have been the turning point in girls’ volleyball on
Kaua’i.
“We were so close last year,” Kiyabu said. “It was devastating to
lose that match.
“But we got the taste of victory, and that was very
important for what we were going to do this year. That game, that game is when
I knew we were going to do it this year.”
Downing, in fact, summed up her
feelings even more succinctly.
“The big emotion came from me when we lost
last year,” she said. “That was my outpouring. This year, I just knew we were
going to do it, and now it’s on to states.”
Stuff of Legends
What:
2000 Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball
champions
Who: Kaua’i High School
When: Official victory came Saturday,
Oct. 28 at Waimea High School
What It Means: Waimea has held tightly to
girls’ volleyball supremacy on the island for 28 years. This was the first
time a team other than the Waimea had won the title.
What It Means II:
Kaua’i will go to the state playoffs, Nov. 7-10 in Honolulu, for the first time
in its history.
Team Members: Seniors-Heather Roberts (C), Danielle Kiyabu
(C), Kim Downing (C), Rona Nishikawa and Misty Hug; Juniors-Tiana Lum-Tucker,
Kareen Konishi, Ashley Tanaka, Tiare Toulon, Erin Garlie, Kehaulani Regidor,
Kandice Cummings, Ashley Kawaihalau and Ashley Nagaoka
Coaches:
Head-Richard Roberts (2nd year); Asst.-Chad Delanoza and Lisa
Cummings
Managers: Mildred Avila, Donna Colobong and Bernice
Lagpacan
