LIHUE — With one game remaining in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys volleyball Round 1, Kapaa High School clinched the round title following a 3-2 five-set marathon against Kauai High School Tuesday night.
Earlier in the night, the Warriors claimed a 2-1 win over the junior varsity Raiders — 25-14, 25-27 and 25-20 — to end the night on a winning note.
“We conceded Round 1,” said Kauai coach Enoch A‘ana. “But we’re determined to play hard and strong in the second round that starts April 2.”
Kapaa varsity got a slow start at Kauai High School. The Raiders took an early 3-0 lead nailed by a Roen Pagatpagan ace, and built on that behind hitting led by Kaimani Tecson and good defensive play that saw Rence Soriano block a Kapaa ball for the 16-12 bulge. Kauai went on to control the floor for a 25-18 set victory.
“Kauai came out and played better than we expected,” said Kapaa coach Kapule Kaona. “They are coming together as a team, and kudos to the players, coaches and coaching staff on their improvement.”
Following the opening loss, Kapaa held off the Raiders for a 25-21 win in the second set when the Raiders closed the book on a hitting error after pulling to within three points on hitting by Tecson and Miles Davis.
Building on the momentum built in the second-set win, Kapaa held off the Raider challenge in the third set as the Warriors claimed the set 25-18 by capitalizing on back-to-back Kauai court miscues and forcing the extra play.
That was an opportunity for Kauai to rebound, pulling away from an 18-18 deadlock on a solid hit from Joshua Garcia and capitalizing on a Warrior hitting error for the 20-18 lead.
Kapaa answered with a strong hits from Justin Faidley whacking from the middle and back to knot the match, 20-20.
Kapaa pulled ahead 22-20 on a hit from Faidley and a Kauai error, but more errors emerged and the Raiders took control 24-22 before Kapaa answered on a service and passing errors on the Raider court for the 24-24 stalemate.
Keane Tibon’s bang put Kauai up 25-24, but was answered by Kapaa’s Kiran Costa pound to knot the game before back-to-back smacks from Tecson forced the fifth set, 27-25.
“I am proud of each and every one of the players who came out to play,” A‘ana said. “They played tough, but we still have a lot to clean up. We keep telling them during practice, ‘Play strong, finish strong!’”
Duke Bush took the service block and pulled Kapaa from a 8-6 deficit to a 13-8 lead getting help from Faidley, Costa, and an ace from Pomai Rabago-Kaiwi before back-to-back Faidley hits put away the match, 15-10.
“We struggled tonight,” Kaona said. “We started slow, and some of our key players struggled on the floor and could not recover. Who was going to step up? We were down 5-7 in the fifth set when we called a time out, and it took a lot of grit for us to finish. Justin Faidley was good in stepping up, pretty much dominating that last set and getting the two solid hits to put everything away.”
In the night’s other KIF varsity match, Waimea defeated Island School in straight sets at Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea — 25-7, 25-15 and 25-17.
Kapaa next hosts Waimea High School Friday night at the Bernice Hundley Gym when the JV game serves up starting at 5 p.m. Kauai High School will travel to Wilcox Gymnasium at Island School for a single match starting at 6:30 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
