LIHU‘E — The only predictable thing about the match was its unpredictability as the Waimea Menehune and Kaua‘i Red Raiders took the court for their first 2010 boys’ volleyball matchup with one another Saturday night at Waimea High School. In
LIHU‘E — The only predictable thing about the match was its unpredictability as the Waimea Menehune and Kaua‘i Red Raiders took the court for their first 2010 boys’ volleyball matchup with one another Saturday night at Waimea High School.
In a back-and-forth affair that displayed both teams’ resiliency, the Raiders notched the road victory with a 15-25, 25-23, 12-25, 25-18, 16-14 victory.
The Raiders had many chances to give up after the third game, in which they were dominated for the majority of play, as well as the deciding fifth game, trailing 11-8 before making a final push.
But each time, they battled back and captured its first win of the season to even its record at 1-1.
Waimea falls to 1-1 with the loss, coming off a straight-set win over the Island School Voyagers Wednesday night at Waimea.
The Raiders had a balanced attack and got contributions from all spots on the floor, as Tyren Hasegawa led the team with nine kills — four coming in the decisive fifth game.
Thomas Niemeier and Pono Cummings each tallied six kills.
Austine Acorda had eight assists for Kaua‘i, while Jon Butac had six.
Neimeier started to play with more confidence as the match wore on and led his team with five blocks.
Waimea showed great passing and appeared to have well-defined roles among the squad, with Corey McDown as the standout performer, piling up 19 assists, 12 blocks, eight kills and four digs.
David Kaohelaulii led the Menehune with 11 kills.
Kalen McCracken was all over the net with 13 blocks. He also added five kills.
Dane Harding tallied nine blocks and six kills.
The two teams started off the match playing very evenly, as Waimea held a slight 15-14 advantage, before going on a 9-0 run, which included back-to-back kills by McDown and an ace for Harding, coming away with the 25-15 win.
Kaua‘i regrouped quickly, taking a 12-7 lead in the second game on a Butac ace. Waimea battled back and eventually evened things up at 18 points apiece, but the Raiders took three straight points, including a Lucas Riley ace, then held off the Menehune when Butac fed Austin Simao for the winning kill at 25-23.
Waimea players did not let the loss affect them negatively and ran out to a 7-0 lead in the third game, forcing a Kaua‘i timeout. The break in the action somewhat slowed the Waimea momentum and two straight Kevin Reyes aces brought the Raiders back to just an 8-5 deficit.
Leading 14-10, Waimea eliminated all doubt and put together a 7-0 run to cruise to the 25-12 win and 2-1 match lead.
The Raiders came out determined and took four of the first five points of Game 4, including another Reyes ace. Kaua‘i held that three-to-four-point advantage for a while, before a 5-1 run gave them a 22-13 lead, with Niemeier and Cummings combining on a block finish to take the nine-point lead.
Waimea got back within five, but would get no closer as Kaua‘i prevailed 25-18, forcing the tiebreaker set.
It was as close as would be expected with six ties throughout the final game, but Waimea took a small lead at 11-8, forcing a Kaua‘i timeout. The stoppage was effective, as Kaua‘i won six of the next seven points, capped by another Reyes ace, to hold match point at 14-12.
Waimea responded with two straight points, the second perhaps the point of the match as neither team would allow a winning kill, to tie it at 14-14.
The Raiders caught a break on a service error to go up 15-14, then finally got the clincher on a Hasegawa kill.
The Raiders junior varsity squad pulled out its second three-set victory to improve to 2-0 on the young season, coming away with a 22-25, 25-21, 25-22 win over the Waimea junior varsity.
Kaua‘i JV notched a two-of-three set win over the Kapa‘a Warriors, Wednesday.
Kaua‘i will be back in action, Wednesday at 5 p.m. when the JV takes the floor in an exhibition against Island School. The varsity will then get going, scheduled to start no earlier than 6:30 p.m.
Kapa‘a will have its home opener Wednesday when Waimea visits. JV will get underway at 5 p.m., followed by varsity.
