LIHUE — Kauai High School needed five sets and extra points, while Kapa‘a High School came back to win in four sets on Tuesday when the Kauai Interscholastic Federation initiated its 2024 fall season girls volleyball season.
Playing at Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea, the host Menehune took the junior varsity matches against Kauai High School 25-20, 25-20 and 14-16.
Over at Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus, the host JV Voyagers took the first two sets against visiting Kapa‘a High School JV before dropping the third set 25-18, 25-18 and 14-25.
The results of the varsity contests demonstrated the parity in the league, as Kauai needed five sets to get past Waimea High School, while Kapaa High School needed four sets to nail its series against the Voyager wahine.
The Red Raider ladies took the first set 25-21 before dropping the second set 20-25 to Waimea. Kauai took the third set 25-15, but Waimea forced the fifth set after taking the fourth set 25-19. With the series tied at two wins apiece, Kauai needed extra points in the fifth set before putting away the set 16-14.
At the Island School campus, both the Voyagers and the Lady Warriors needed the first set to adjust to a competitive court and harden its newbies to varsity level play.
Capitalizing on Kapaa court mistakes like hitting and passing errors, and the solid whacking by veteran Voyager Mary Magoun, Island School took an 11-6 lead in the opening stanza.
Kapaa answered to a 14-12 bulge behind an unreturnable ball from Taira Samiano in the service block and a conk from Carlyn Kamoku.
Following a multiple hit call, the Voyagers came back to capitalize on Lady Warrior miscues to finish the set 25-21.
Despite an ace coming from Voyager Mandy Gokan, Kapa‘a answered when its Kailee Baltazar served up five straight points to a 20-14 lead in the second set. The scoring series included back-to-back whacks from Kanoe Haneberg.
The Voyagers answered with a hit from Madelyn Halladay, but Kapaa put the set to rest on hits from Vatahi Dubocage and Kuuipo Hunt. Kapaa continued its roll by taking the next two sets for the 3-1 victory.
KIF girls volleyball continues on Friday when Waimea travels to Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapaa to test against the Lady Warriors. The Voyagers will be traveling to the new Kauai High School gymnasium in search of their first season win.
The JV games at both sites serve up from 5:30 p.m. with the varsity contests starting 25 minutes following the JV games.
