LIHU‘E — The records were wiped clean and a whole new round began Tuesday night as the Kapa‘a Warriors and Waimea Menehune each won five-set thrillers to open the second half of the season tied atop the standings at 1-0.
LIHU‘E — The records were wiped clean and a whole new round began Tuesday night as the Kapa‘a Warriors and Waimea Menehune each won five-set thrillers to open the second half of the season tied atop the standings at 1-0.
Kapa‘a came back from a 2-1 set deficit in its match, as the Warriors topped first-round champion Kaua‘i by scores of 31-29, 22-25, 21-25, 26-24, 17-15.
Waimea was the 3-2 winner over Island School, with all five sets tightly contested before a 15-13 final set win for the Menehune.
The Warriors and Raiders battled in a thriller at Kaua‘i High School, neither team giving up much ground. The final set ended on a Kaua‘i shot that hit the antenna to give Kapa‘a the victory and early advantage in the second round.
Both teams went back and forth to an 11-11 tie in the fifth, before Kapa‘a took three straight points and picked up three match points on an Austin Delos Santos kill on a feed from Bradley Coloma.
The Red Raiders regrouped and saved two straight, before Kevin Reyes’ shot from the back row scooted just over the net to even things up again at 14-14.
Both teams traded errors to go to 15-15 and Kapa‘a then picked up its fourth match point on a Kaua‘i net violation. This time, the Raiders were unable to save it and fell to 0-1 in the second round.
Kainoa Colipano led the Warriors with 12 kills in the match, as well as 7.5 blocks.
Matt Domingcil had 10 kills and Adam Clark had nine kills, along with 8.5 blocks. Delos Santos had eight kills with 4.5 blocks, three assists and two digs. Kanoa Nartatez put together five kills, 1.5 blocks, three digs and two assists.
Weston Moniz led his team with six digs, also putting away four kills. Tyrus Moises had a team-high 23 assists, while Coloma had 14 assists and four digs. Hunter Hudson added in five digs.
The Raiders were led by Donovan Harrison’s 25 kills and nine blocks at net. Dane Bautista had 14 kills, while Joseph Machado had eight kills and eight blocks. Kaleo Tin had eight kills, five blocks, five digs and four assists. Blaise Ferguson had seven kills and three digs, while Reyes added in five digs.
Setter Jon Butac had a match-high 48 assists, to go with 5.5 blocks, three kills and three aces.
The two teams played evenly the entire opening set, seeing the score tied 17 different times before a Kaua‘i shot went long to give Kapa‘a a 30-29 edge. After a very long rally with each team on the defensive, a Raider shot ended up in the net to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, Kapa‘a raced to a 7-2 lead before Kaua‘i used a 12-4 run capped off by a Butac ace for a 14-11 advantage. Leading 23-22, Harrison went up and put away a kill from Butac to pick up a pair of set points. Kaua‘i capitalized on the first as Machado went up and blocked a shot at the net for a kill and the 1-1 score in the match.
Kaua‘i maintained a reasonable lead for much of the third set, as a Tin ace put the Raiders ahead 19-14. The had five set points at 24-19 after a Harrison spike and needed three of them before Bautista finished things with a kill and 2-1 match lead.
An early 10-1 run gave the Warriors a 12-5 edge in the fourth, though the Raiders stayed close. Yet Kapa‘a never led by fewer than two until three straight Kaua‘i points made it 23-22 Warriors. Colipano had a kill to pick up a pair of set points, but they were each saved by the Raiders, first on a finish from Tin, then from Machado. But holding a 25-24 lead, Domingcil slammed home a Moises feed to send the match to the deciding fifth set.
The junior varsity match also went the distance, with Kapa‘a coming away with the 2-1 win over Kaua‘i. The Warriors JV won by scores of 28-26, 13-25, 27-25.
The boys will be on the court for take two in the second round Friday, when Kapa‘a hopes to improve to 2-0, though Waimea stands in its way. Action will be at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a.
Kaua‘i will head to Island School to take on the Voyagers. JV in both matches will begin at 5 p.m., with varsity to follow.
