KAPAA — Kapaa High School’s varsity boys volleyball team defeated Island School in straight sets Tuesday evening at the Bernice Hundley Gym at Kapaa High School — 25-14, 25-10 and 25-17.
“It’s good to start the second round with a win. Obviously, that does a lot of things for the boys’ confidence,” said Kapaa head coach Kapule Kaona. “There a lot more volleyball left to play, but to be able to leave with a win tonight was great.”
In the first two sets, Kapaa (6-1 KIF, 1-0 2nd round) recovered from early deficits to win by double-digit leads.
“We actually worked on a few things in practice that we wanted to execute this evening, and they executed very well,” Kaona said.
“I think we were able to run a diverse and good offense, and a quick offense, because I think our passing was a bit more solidified,” he said. “Because the passing was good, it had to do with our transition that we’ve been looking on. That’s just being able to be a little bit more quicker and shaper in our movement off of the ball that we wanted to clean up.”
Island School (0-7 KIF, 0-1 2nd round) started those first two sets with three to four-point leads but couldn’t sustain them.
“That’s actually one of the things we talked about. We had a lead, a really good lead. But in one rotation, we just gave it away,” said Island School head coach Kylie Silva.“Kapaa took the
opportunity and pretty much kept running with it. That’s what we need to start building — a stronger mental game. Once we can build that, the rest of the sport becomes easier.”
The Voyagers had a better showing in the third set and stayed within a few points behind the Warriors up until the middle portion of the set.
With a 13-12 lead, Kapaa went on a 10-3 run to pull away.
“First match of the second round, it was good. The boys learned a lot. They understand what they need to do,” said Silva.
Two starters were out last week, he said, and returned over the weekend.
“We now know what we got to start building again. We had it. We lost it. Now, we got to get it back,” Silva said.
Warriors junior outside hitter Kiran Costa led Kapaa offensively with 15 kills, an ace and a block. Junior setter Rusdan-Rocket Ahuna had 25 assists, two kills and an ace.
Sophomore middle Justin Faidley had six kills and a block for Kapaa. Senior opposite hitter Noah Rall had five kills, and junior outside hitter Raine Youne had four, including the set-winner in the third set.
Voyagers senior outside hitter Reece Valencia led Island School with six kills and a block. Senior setter Ryan Yavinsky had nine assists.
Sophomore outside hitter Kieran Mitchell had a couple of kills for Island. Junior middle Luke Reynolds and junior middle Aidan Offley each had a kill and a block.
In the junior varsity match, Kapaa also won in straight sets against Island — 25-17, 25-11 and 25-10.
Kapaa will play at Waimea (4-3 KIF, 0-1 2nd round), and Island School will host Kauai High (4-3 KIF, 1-0 2nd round) on Friday. The JV matches will begin 5 p.m. and the varsity will follow.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
