PO‘IPU — No sweat! Well, at least for Waimea’s #3 seeded girls’ doubles team of Ciera “One, Two Step” Sherman and Reiko Ayabe “Be Blue,” who stumped the top two squads on their way to the 2005 KIF doubles title.
PO‘IPU — No sweat! Well, at least for Waimea’s #3 seeded girls’ doubles team of Ciera “One, Two Step” Sherman and Reiko Ayabe “Be Blue,” who stumped the top two squads on their way to the 2005 KIF doubles title.
“This is our first year playing together and we just worked well with each other,” Sherman said.
The Menehune duo ousted Kaua‘i’s Cassady Sirois and Megan Vento, the top seed, 6-2, 7-5.
“We’ve beaten them before but Cassady had a different partner, so we had some confidence going in,” Sherman said.
Ayabe and Sherman also took out the number two seed (Kapa‘a’s Tasha Haraguchi and Crystine “Judge” Ito) on their way to the title.
The groups who made the semifinals will head to states, which included Sirois/Vento, Kaua‘i’s Jaymee Wakumoto/Tati Zina, Ayabe/Sherman, and Haraguchi/Ito.
Kula’s Kyle Barrett and Alex Latif was just too tough for Kaua‘i’s Chad “Great Smiles” Naganuma and James “Jimbo” Odan, 6-2, 6-1.
The Kula boys, who went the farthest out of any Kaua‘i team or player in last year’s state tournament, will gain a high seed this season.
The boys’ doubles state qualifiers are Latif/Barrett, Kaua‘i’s Steve “Esteban” McClaren/Michael “Hero” Hirahara, Kapa‘a’s Danny “Not Andy” Rodrick/Chris “Da Ram” Ramelb, and Naganuma/Odan.
In girls’ singles action, Alex “Da Cat” Sirois cruised through the bracket on her way to the title. The senior, who will be heading off to North Carolina tomorrow, with the state champion mock trial squad (Kaua‘i), nailed down wins against Kaua‘i’s Dasha Lagmay, Kula’s Ariel Carlson, and Kapa‘a’s Shawna Tamayose in the final, 6-2, 6-1.
Tamayose, the third seed, upset Waimea’s Sonya Tacub, the number two seed in a tough match, 0-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4.
“I faced three match points, but at least I got into the finals and somehow I pulled out with the win against Sonya, but she played really good,” Tamayose said.
Her head coach, Jonathan Tom was also happy about her play in the tournament.
“I’m very pleased with how things turned out; she’s very spunky and stepped up for the win; all in all, I think Kapa‘a had a good tournament,” Tom said.
Carlson, Tamayose, Sirois, and Tacub will be representing the Kaua‘i girls at states.
Despite being flat by his own estimation, Kaua‘i senior Jordan “The Terminator” Kukino battled with Island School’s Justin Vea in the boys’ singles final.
The top two seeds jousted throughout the match, but the top seeded Kukino, who will grab a high seed at this year’s state tourney, managed to get the victory, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2.
Joining Kukino and Vea at states are Kapa‘a’s Kia Tom and Waimea’s Joseph Mecham.
According to the many spectators, the tournament was a huge success, thanks in part to all of the KIF athletic directors and head coaches.
Despite the grueling hot sun, Kaua‘i’s Deb Engdahl, who will be stepping down after a five year stint as head coach, remained bubbly and humorous throughout the tournament.
