LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation closed its first round of girls volleyball with the first-round title holder Waimea splitting its series with Island School Friday night at the Wilcox Gymnasium.
The Junior Varsity Voyagers took all three of its sets over the JV Menehune wahine, 25-22, 25-14, and 25-17, and the Varsity Waimea coming back to take three sets over the Voyagers, 25-11, 25-19, and 25-20.
Over at the Kaua‘i High School gym, the Red Raiders took both ends of its games against the Lady Warriors, the Kaua‘i JV holding off Kapa‘a 25-22, 25-18, and 20-25 before the Varsity Red Raider ladies hammered out a 3-1 edge over the Lady Warriors, 25-20, 25-15, 20-25, and 25-20.
“The girls have a taste,” said Dave Bukoski, the father of Kaua‘i hitter Nahe Bukoski, who made his way to the contest from the parking lot that is throttled by the construction of the new gymnasium at the Kaua‘i High campus. “The team knows the feeling after getting a win over Waimea, Tuesday. Now, they need to learn to play through adversity.”
Waimea varsity ladies, claiming the KIF first round title with the 3-1 win, Tuesday including the 28-30 heartbreaker, lost little time easing the sting of its JV loss before the crowded audience at the Wilcox Gymnasium.
Malu Alquiza Kenney served up a string of six unanswered points to pull Waimea to a 12-3 bulge in the opening set where Island School’s Brittany Valentino quashed the Kenney string of serves with an assertive hammer. Menehune Haley Zina grew the bulge to 15-4 with a service string peppered with hits from Kalea Hui Hui-Caberto and Safina Sandblom.
The Voyagers responded late in the set on a crowd-pleasing hit from Mary Magoun, Ella Offley, and Brittany Valentino before the Menehune put the set to bed on an Alquiza Kenney ace, 25-11.
Through the night, Waimea controlled the set, allowing a Voyager lead only in the second set when back-to-back Magoun hammers put the Voyagers up, 7-6, and a Menehune net violation grew the bulge 8-6.
Waimea answered the 12-12 stalemate, the sixth in the set, on hammers from Halia Moriguchi, Kalea Hui Hui-Caberto, Sandblom before closing the door on a Voyager court violation.
“The bench really came to play, tonight,” said Waimea coach Brandi Hori Moises. “They deserve this win because they stepped up play, tonight. They put in the time, coming to practice daily, and now the effort pays off. They deserve to reap the rewards of all that hard work.”
The KIF opens the second round of girls volleyball play Tuesday when Waimea travels to the Bernice Hundley Gym to take on Kapa‘a. Kaua‘i High School moves to the Wilcox Gymnasium for a meeting with Island School. The JV games at both sites start at 5 p.m. followed by the varsity match serving up 25 minutes following the completion of the JV matches.
Scoreboard
• Island School JV/Waimea JV: 25-22, 25-14, 25-17
• Waimea Varsity/Island School: 25-11, 25-19, 25-20
• Kaua‘i JV/Kapa‘a JV: 25-22, 25-18, 20-25
• Kaua‘i Varsity/Kapa‘a: 25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 25-20
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
