LIHUE — The Kauai High School girls tennis teams kept its undefeated string going with a 4-1 win over Kapaa High School Saturday during Kauai Interscholastic Federation matches at Timbers Kauai at Hokuala.
The Red Raider girls were joined by the Kauai High School boys, who dug deep to emerge a 5-0 winner over the Warriors.
“This was a good win for the boys,” said Kauai High School coach Shannon Burkman. “We are very proud of our players’ effort today. The boys’ win really boosted their confidence. Both the boys and girls have been working hard, and this dedication is paying off.”
Chris Constantino came back from his last week’s loss to Island School by staying ahead of Kapaa’s Jacob Espi in boys first singles, 6-4, 6-4. Raider Nicholas Badua continued in the winner’s circle after posting a 6-4, 6-4 final over Kapaa’s Mason Buick in second singles.
In boys first doubles, Kauai’s pair of Trevor Carbonel and Sage Cierras prevailed, 6-2, 6-1, over the Warrior duo of Cody Andrews and Glenn Aguada.
Kauai’s Thaine Ochoco paired with Thomas Vetter to stay ahead of the Kapaa pair of Sage Ioanna and Skyler Wilson, 6-2, 6-4, in boys second doubles.
Red Raider Kai Villanueva paired with Tanner Lee to defeat the Kapaa duo of Kaimani Dryer and Ian Sotele, 6-1, 6-4, in boys third doubles to complete the Kauai boys’ sweep.
“Before the matches started playing, the coaches told the players to ‘insist’ that their respective opponents hit back one more ball — force them to hit back one more time,” Burkman said. “We could see the players really digging deep to force their opponents to make one more shot. For many of the players, this mindset led to the win.”
Kapaa’s Hannah Collin-Doijode teamed with Kiara Dolimo to blemish the Kauai girls’ undefeated string of victories by downing Kauai’s Emily Melchor and Selma Tausend, 7-5, 6-3, in girls third doubles. This Kapaa win broke the undefeated Raider girls’ string following two matches into the KIF season.
The remaining Kauai players redeemed this blemish as Anna Burkman shut down Kapaa’s Sydney Nice, 6-0, 6-0, in girls first singles, and Tia Fulks followed with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Danica Gibson in second singles.
Kauai’s Hokulani Iseri paired with Katherine O’Neill to control girls first doubles, 6-0, 6-0 over the Warrior pair of Malia Searby and Wailana Makepa.
The Kauai girls closed off their win when Helena Huffman and Miya Reese came back from a 6-2 opening match over Kapaa’s Mary Jane Uribe and Leila Nelson to close the set with a 6-0 win in girls second doubles.
Out in Waimea, the Waimea High School boys claimed the first round of Kauai Interscholastic Federation tennis following its 4-1 win over Island School Saturday on the Waimea campus.
Menehune third girls doubles team of Louisa Tanigawa and Rhonda Lei Batacan took their match by default to complete a 5-0 sweep on the girls’ courts.
According to Waimea coaches Cyrus and Beverly Tumbaga, the boys claimed their third consecutive win to take the first round of tennis, and the Menehune girls enjoyed their second win of the season after taking the Kapaa girls last week.
Island School dampened the Menehune boys’ dream of a complete-game win when Sasha Rovinsky controlled Limar Medina, 6-3, 6-3, in boys first singles.
Edmelle Medina of Waimea redeemed the blemish by defeating Island School’s Adrian Meier in boys second singles, 6-0, 6-3.
Menehune Breicen Medina and Wendell Batangan set the pace for a Waimea sweep in boys doubles after getting past the Island School duo of Jan Engihard and Kaikea Kaum in a 7-6 tie-breaker before taking the match, 6-4 in the second set.
Waimea’s Bryan Ingeniero and Fred Ryi Adella defeated the Island School pair of Patrick McKenna and Max McLychok, 6-3, 6-1, in boys second doubles, and Waimea’s Wayne Noda and Christian Pablo took the boys third doubles by default.
Waimea’s Kari Correa handled Island School’s Emma Thain, 6-0, 6-0, in girls first singles, and Leslie Uri continued the momentum by defeating the Voyagers’ Bonnie Lee, 6-4, 6-2, in girls second singles.
The Menehune wahine went on to control the girls doubles arena when Micah Guillermo teamed with Kristine Ruiz to defeat the Island School duo of Kalia Hamid and Lily Reynolds, 6-0, 6-1, in girls first doubles.
Waimea’s Julienne Gawaran paired with Monique Joy Lorenzo, playing her first year in tennis, in girls second doubles, downing Island School’s Paulina Do and Gianna Detrolio, 6-1, 6-1, before Tanigawa and Batacan claimed the girls third doubles by default.
The next KIF tennis matches will be held March 31 when Kauai High School hosts Waimea High School at the Timbers Kauai at Hokuala, starting at 9 a.m. Kapaa will travel to the Kauai Community College tennis courts to face Island School starting at 1 p.m.
