Upland comes from behind for Kaua‘i Challenge title

Upland senior middle hitter did not have to slam the ball for the title.

With just one point needed to clinch the championship of the Kaua‘i Challenge volleyball tournament, Morgan Carty, frustrated through much of the match and visiting the umpire station on several occasions, simply pushed the ball down the right side into an undefended pocket.

That set up a celebration by the Upland squad who came back in two games to overtake Dos Pueblos, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13 and clinch the title.

Earlier, it was Carty in Game 3 who pulled Upland into the lead with a hard-hit slam against Dos Pueblos’ triple defense of Kati Cattaneo, Gillian Vasquez and Caitlin Racich.

That point knotted the contest 12-12 after Upland trailed from the onset, plagued by problems from their setters getting the ball to its hitters. Setter Karli Moore served up an ace followed by reserve setter Anisa Andrade pushing the ball against the Dos Pueblo outside defense for a 14-12 nod.

But Dos Pueblo answered on an opposite side hit by Vasquez to keep the contest moving. That set the stage for Carty’s right side push into the pocket and the title.

“I never expected us to get this far,” Dos Pueblos coach Dwayne Hauschild said before the contest started. “This is our first year here, and so far, everyone we played seems to be better than we are, so for us to come this far is really something.”

Dos Pueblos, seeded fifth on the final day of play, upset fourth-seeded Iolani to advance.

The Iolani win pit Dos Pueblos up against top seeded Murrieta Vista, and the California girls got past that hurdle to face second-seeded Upland for the title in the Po‘okela Division of the tournament.

Upland advanced by getting past Buena and Murrieta Valley in the morning, the win against the Valley girls pitting the two Murrieta teams against each other for third place.

“We play each other in the season,” Debbie Jones, mother of Murrieta Vista setter Raechel Jones, said. “We come all this way to play Valley. It would have been better if we were playing them for first place.”

But the Murrieta Vista girls, defending champions from the 2006 Challenge, settled for third place with a 25-18, 25-17 win over Murrieta Valley.

Outside of that, Debbie said this was a great opportunity for the girls to meet and play with other teams in a setting they would otherwise never be able to play in.

“It’s great for team bonding as well,” she added while holding on to a bag of fruit left over from the team’s break.

Top seeded Kaua‘i High School, playing in the Olinolino division at Kapa‘a High School, was upset by No. 8 Pearl City in three sets, 25-23, 21-25, 15-7, followed by another three-set loss at the hands of the Oxnard Fighting Yellow Jackets, 25-12, 24-26, 15-12.

Los Osos, seeded third, finished by getting past Notre Dame-San Jose, 25-16, 25-16. Kamehameha-Hawai‘i filled in the third place with a 25-19, 27-25 win over Pearl City.

Earlier in the day, Los Osos started by defeating No. 6 Molokai, 25-20, 25-18 followed by a 25-22, 25-23 win over Kamehameha-Hawai‘i to advance to the title game.

Kapa‘a High School, seeded fourth in the Onipa‘a division, fell to No. 5 Kalaheo in three sets, 22-25, 25-14, 16-14, followed by a win over Fairmont Prep, 21-25, 25-19, 15-12, before dropping to Upland Christian, 25-20, 26-24 at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea.

Waimea, second seeded in the Onipa‘a division, went on to take third place by defeating Kalaheo, 24-26, 17-25, after being upset by No. 3 Mililani, 25-9, 25-16. Earlier in the day, Waimea got past Kealakehe, 25-21, 25-18.

Mililani went on to claim the title of the Onipa‘a division by getting past La Salle, 25-21, 25-11.

The Trojans started out with a 25-9, 25-16 win over Fairmont Prep and advanced after defeating the Waimea Menehune,

Full tournament results can be viewed on the Travel International Sports Web site, at www.tisworld.com.