LIHU‘E — With sole possession of first place on the line, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders remained unbeaten on the season with a 3-1 victory over the Waimea Menehune, Tuesday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym. Rallying after losing the
LIHU‘E — With sole possession of first place on the line, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders remained unbeaten on the season with a 3-1 victory over the Waimea Menehune, Tuesday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym.
Rallying after losing the first set, Kaua‘i took the match by scores of 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-17.
Both teams entered the night at 2-0 and tied for first place atop the standings, but the Raiders now hold the one-game edge.
Donovan Harrison led Kaua‘i with 14 kills on the night, to go along with 4.5 blocks and five aces, taking advantage of his jump serve for some free points.
Dane Bautista had 11 kills in the match, while Jon Butac led his squad with 26 assists to go with 3.5 blocks and two kills.
Blaise Ferguson had four kills and Kaleo Tin had three kills, two blocks, two assists, two digs and an ace.
Kevin Killerman finished off 10 kills to lead Waimea. He also had 6.5 blocks.
Kaili Schumacher-Lagundino had eight kills, 4.5 blocks and three digs. Kalen McCracken had seven kills and 4.5 blocks.
Chase Parongao had a match-high 13 digs and Jonathon Tangalin finished with 17 assists to go with 2.5 blocks.
Tied up at 12-12 in the opening set, Waimea used an 11-1 run to take a comfortable lead and then had seven set points at 24-17. The Menehune got the win on the very first try when the Raiders were whistled for a net violation and faced the early 1-0 deficit in the match.
The second set went back and forth, as Waimea held an early four-point lead before Kaua‘i came back and moved ahead 21-19, forcing a Menehune timeout.
The Raiders held on to that two-point lead and possessed a pair of set points at 24-22. Harrison showed off the jump serve and wound up with an ace to even the match at 1-1.
Waimea again held a four-point lead in the third set, moving ahead 18-14. But Tin scored an ace and followed it up with three more points on his serve to square things at 18-18. Up 23-22, Butac found Ferguson for a kill that delivered a pair of set points. Harrison then finished the job with a solo block at the net for a winner and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Raiders used an early 7-2 run to go ahead 12-7, then another 7-2 run later to move out to a 21-13 lead. Waimea got back within five, but no closer, as Harrison again had the winner off a Butac feed to end the match and put Kaua‘i into first place.
In the night’s second varsity match, the Kapa‘a Warriors were a 3-0 winner over the Island School Voyagers, 25-13, 25-16, 25-12. The win puts Kapa‘a at 1-2 for the season and drops Island School to 0-3.
The junior varsity match was won by Island School, who took both the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-19.
The Kaua‘i-Waimea JV match was won by Kaua‘i with scores of 25-18, 25-19, 25-19.
The boys will back on the court Friday, when the Raiders play host to the Warriors and the Menehune host the Voyagers. JV will begin at 5 p.m., followed by varsity.
