WAIMEA — The Waimea junior varsity girls volleyball team held a double-digit lead over Kapaa Friday afternoon at the Clem Gomes Gym during Kauai Interscholastic Federation volleyball games.
The rapidly swelling crowd hushed as Waimea coach Brandi Hori-Moises called a time out just two points away from closing the door.
Out of the huddle, Hori-Moises was joined by her staff in preparing Shyann Freitas for action, and the audience was quiet in anticipation.
Freitas, a member of the Waimea JV team who was recently hurt in an ATV accident, was wheeled onto the floor. Using a special wheeled medical device, she held the ball, nervously. She had been sitting in her wheelchair throughout the previous two sets where Waimea topped the Kapaa JV squad, 25-17 and 25-22.
“We couldn’t do this earlier,” Hori-Moises said. “The emotion would have been too much. We just waited until the final set so Freitas could be part of this last game.”
Members of the Waimea cheer squad and members of the varsity Menehune wahine, clinching the KIF title earlier in the week, ringed the court as Freitas, with the help of the JV coaching staff Brytney Yadao-Lanning, Searra Kaohi, Ani Samio and Robin Moura, whacked her first serve of the night. It was her first serve since her accident that cost her a foot.
Unfortunately, her serve netted, but the Menehune closed the door on the final set, 25-15 to complete an undefeated season.
The symbolic serves by the wheelchair-bound Menehune set the stage for the varsity match where the four Waimea senior players — Keana Silva, Kairah Alejandro, Gabrielle Peleras and Leiko Yamauchi — took charge of the court to lead the KIF champions to a straight set win over Kapaa, 25-18, 25-13 and 25-19.
“The seniors did what they are supposed to do,” said Waimea coach Chad Delanoza. “They were big leaders out there, and acted like team captains. They got everyone to realize that every person plays a part in winning, and every person needs to do their job to make it work.”
Silva and Peleras took charge of the firepower in the first set where Kapaa came back to knot the set on two separate occasions before Waimea pulled ahead and sealed the deal on a Silva bang.
Kapaa senior Sydney Nice served up an ace to knot the set, 7-7, and a block by Lani Alo coupled with a Waimea hitting error to give the Warriors a lead that stood until a string of errors pulled Waimea back, 13-13.
Raelee Samio exploded down the middle and a Peleras block pulled the Menehune up. Another Nice bang brought the Warriors to within one, 15-16 before Waimea pulled ahead to seal the deal on a Silva whack.
“The girls came to the realization that they had nothing to lose,” said Kapaa coach Ari Logan. “They were playing more relaxed, and there was no pressure that forced errors. They were more aggressive out there, but still relaxed, and having fun.”
With the win, and the KIF title earned with a win over Island School Thursday. Waimea High School waits to see the brackets for the New City Nissan Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II girls volleyball tournament to be released. The state tournament for Division II will take place Oct. 24-27 on Oahu.
“We’ll just wait to see who is in the Division II,” Delanoza said. “We need to keep the pressure on, and we’ll be back in the gym Saturday morning. We just need to keep on working.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
