LIHUE – This volleyball match ended in two games, but it might as well have ended in three. The Kaua’i Red Raiders battled to force a game three well past an expired clock against the Waimea Menehunes, but ultimately fell
LIHUE – This volleyball match ended in two games, but it might as well have ended in three.
The Kaua’i Red Raiders battled to force a game three well past an expired clock against the Waimea Menehunes, but ultimately fell 9-15, 15-17 Saturday in a jayvee matchup at the Raiderdome.
When the clock expired in the second game, the score was deadlocked 13-13 after the Raiders chipped into a 7-point deficit. A Rikki Garma kill tied the score, and a Waimea hitting error helped the Red Raiders take its first lead of the game.
Sideouts ruled the waning moments of the second game, but they were well worth the delay. Menehune setter Bryan Hayashi connected twice with Joshua Cabral on booming kills to fend off Raider points and the Raiders found a way to stay afloat with setter Garrett Sakimae. Sakimae’s three kills and two assists past the final minute marker helped keep the Raider’s hopes alive…at least until the two hitting errors gave Waimea its final two game-winning points.
Kaua’i staged a hearty comeback in the first game, but it couldn’t offset a comfortable Waimea lead.
Besides Raider hitting errors, kills by Cabral, Garma, and Kyle Pigao and two aces by Peterson Dela Cruz gave Waimea a 9-0 jumpstart. A kill and ace by Sakimae provided the Red Raiders its first score. Micah Young added a block and Ryo Shintani a kill to climb the Raiders to within six. And after two Cody Bonilla aces, the Raiders trailed by just four. But that was as close as they would come.
A block from Pigao and a kill by Hayashi gave Waimea a 15-9 first game win.
Waimea girls win in two
The Waimea High girls jayvee volleyball team took control of their matchup with Kaua’i High, winning in two sets, 15-7, 15-4 Saturday at the Raiderdome in Lihue.
The Menehunes struck early, capitalizing on 2 Red Raider errors and a service ace by Joanna Jacinto. Kaua’i chipped into the lead following a Leilani Alayvilla ace, but the run wouldn’t last. Waimea went on a 7-point tear.
Taira Kajiwara notched two aces and a booming kill and Mallorie Hepa added two more aces to give Waimea a commanding 9-2 lead.
A kill from Raider Avian Nakaya capped a four-point Kaua’i run late in the game, but Kajiwara added two aces and Elysse Sato landed a kill to give Waimea the 15-7 advantage.
It was all Waimea in the second game.
Three aces (two by Kasey Barcelona, three by Hepa and Tori Kagawa and another by Jacinto) along with another Sato kill put Waimea in front 12-0. They never looked back. An ace from Kerri-anne Iwai and a Raider accounted for the game’s final points as the Menehunes closed out the 15-4 win.
