LIHU‘E — The Waimea Lady Menehune ended their season on a high note with a 2-0 victory over Ka‘u High School in the consolation final at the New City Nissan/HHSAA Div. II Girls Volleyball State Championships, Saturday on O‘ahu. Playing
LIHU‘E — The Waimea Lady Menehune ended their season on a high note with a 2-0 victory over Ka‘u High School in the consolation final at the New City Nissan/HHSAA Div. II Girls Volleyball State Championships, Saturday on O‘ahu.
Playing at McKinley High School, Waimea notched a 26-24, 25-12 victory to finish the season with a 14-2 record.
Senior Jayme Jacinto was the leading scorer with 12 kills. Tatiana Rita had eight kills of her own, while Brandee Victorino had six.
Robin Moura came up with two blocks and Vakeesha Lagazo had two aces.
After losing its opening match at the championship tournament to Kalaheo in a 15-13 fifth set, Waimea rebounded with straight-set wins over Seabury Hall and Ka‘u.
The Div. II championship was won by No. 2 Moloka‘i, which pulled off a dominant 3-0 win over No. 1 University in Saturday’s championship match.
Kalei Vaivai led Moloka‘i with 19 kills on her way to being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Hawai‘i Baptist took third place with a victory over Leilehua, 2-0 (25-18, 25-22).
Roosevelt defeated Hawai‘i Prep 2-0 (35-33, 25-23) in the fifth-place match.
The Div. II All-Tournament Team was made up by Kailana Ritte-Camara (Moloka‘i), Ashley Vaoifi (Leilehua), Kalei Adolpho (Moloka‘i), Quynne Eharis (University), CJ Asuncion (Hawai‘i Baptist), Kawena Puhi (Moloka‘i) and Mikayla Samiano (University).
Waimea had high hopes entering the tournament after suffering just a single defeat during 2010 KIF play.
The Kaua‘i Red Raiders handed the Lady Menehune their only league defeat, and their first conference loss in more than two seasons when Kaua‘i forced a second-round playoff match in the regular season finale.
The loss ended Waimea’s hopes for a second straight unbeaten KIF campaign.
But the team rebounded and came away with a four-set victory in the playoff to earn the spot in the HHSAA tournament.
Going in unseeded, Waimea was facing a tough road against top competition. It took a 2-1 lead in the opener against Kalaheo, before eventually falling by the slimmest of margins in the decisive set.
The Div. I championship went to unseeded Kamehameha-Kapalama, which knocked off the event’s top seed, Punahou.
Kapalama needed four sets to notch the victory, taking it 25-13, 12-25, 25-15, 25-18.
Though it came into the tournament outside the top four teams receiving byes, this was the sixth consecutive state title for Kamehameha.
Misty Ma‘a was the leading scorer with 18 kills.
Talia Jardin followed with nine, while Brittany-Ann Kalepa and Alohi Robins-Hardy each had eight.
Amanda Wasko and Nicole Sniffen had four kills apiece.
Wasko led her side with 10 digs, while Kalepa and Robins-Hardy each had nine.
Setter Robins-Hardy had a match-high 38 assists.
Brigitte Russo led Punahou with 13 kills as Carly Kan had nine.
Taylor Dayton led her side with 10 digs.
Kapalama ends the season with a 22-2 record, while Punahou finishes at 20-3.
Kaiser High School was victorious in the third-place match, coming away with a 2-1 comeback win over Waiakea (24-26, 25-21, 17-15).
Fifth place went to Kamehameha-Big Island, which took a straight set win over Kahuku, 25-16, 25-20.
The consolation bracket was won by Pearl City, which was a 2-0 winner over Moanalua (25-13, 25-18).
