KAPA‘A — The boys welcomed in a new season of KIF volleyball, but the scenario seemed to be the same as it typically has been, with Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a pushing each other to the limit. The Red Raiders won the
KAPA‘A — The boys welcomed in a new season of KIF volleyball, but the scenario seemed to be the same as it typically has been, with Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a pushing each other to the limit.
The Red Raiders won the first match of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season, needing five sets to knock off the Warriors, Tuesday night in the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a.
Kaua‘i was the 3-2 winner, with set scores of 20-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23, 15-7.
Donovan Harrison led all players with 18 kills on the night, also adding 5.5 blocks and an ace.
Blaise Ferguson had 11 kills for Kaua‘i — five of them coming in the fourth set — as well as two digs.
Joseph Machado and Dane Bautista had six digs apiece, while Machado had two assists and two blocks.
Jon Butac had a match-high 37 assists. He added three kills, three aces, three blocks and three digs in a strong all-around showing.
Kaleo Tin had five kills, three aces, 1.5 blocks and a pair of digs on the night for the Raiders.
Kapa‘a was led by Matt Domingcil’s 14 kills, to go with 3.5 blocks.
Weston Moniz had nine kills, seven digs, 2.5 blocks and an ace.
Adam Clark put down seven kills and had eight blocks up front.
Bradley Coloma led the Warriors with 20 assists to go with four kills and six digs.
Bradley Heiser had six kills, while Tyrus Moises had 13 assists.
Kaua‘i had to come back from not only the 2-1 deficit in sets, but was also facing a 9-1 deficit in the fourth set, needing to win the final two for a victory.
From that point, Kaua‘i put together an 18-5 run, including back-to-back aces from Tin.
Kapa‘a responded, as it later trailed 22-17. The Warriors strung together five straight points to knot things up at 22-22.
But the Raiders got a kill from Ferguson off of a Butac feed for a 24-23 advantage and were able to even things up on the very next point, sending the match to a deciding fifth set.
Up 7-5 in the fifth, Tin had another ace to give Kaua‘i the momentum as the two teams switched ends. It continued from there with a 6-2 run and held seven match points at 14-7, after Ferguson again finished off a Butac set.
The next point ended the evening as a net violation was called on Kapa‘a, giving Kaua‘i the 15-7 win.
In other varsity action, Waimea sits with Kaua‘i atop the early standings at 1-0 after a sweep of Island School in Puhi. The Menehune took the match 3-0, by scores of 25-17, 25-16, 25-18.
In junior varsity action, Kapa‘a was a 2-1 winner over Kaua‘i, coming back from a set down for a 21-25, 25-22, 25-16 win.
Also picking up a JV win was Waimea, which had a battle with the Island School Voyagers but survived for a 2-1 win on scores of 25-21, 24-26, 25-23.
Action resumes Friday as Kapa‘a heads to Waimea and Island School travels to Kaua‘i High. JV begins at 5 p.m., with varsity to follow.
