KAPA‘A — Having knocked off the first-round champions in their second-round opener, the Kapa‘a Warriors followed it up with a four-set win over the Waimea Menehune, Friday night at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a. The Warriors came away with
KAPA‘A — Having knocked off the first-round champions in their second-round opener, the Kapa‘a Warriors followed it up with a four-set win over the Waimea Menehune, Friday night at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a.
The Warriors came away with the 3-1 win by scores of 25-16, 25-16, 23-25, 25-15 to take sole possession of first place in the second round.
In the night’s other varsity match, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Island School Voyagers in five sets and pick up their first win of the second round. Kaua‘i won by scores of 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-13 to move to 1-1 in the standings.
They trail Kapa‘a, which improved to 2-0 and is the only unbeaten team. Waimea also sits at 1-1, a game behind the Warriors, while Island School is 0-2 after a pair of five-set defeats.
Kapa‘a went to work early and took command of the opening set. The Warriors jumped ahead 20-12 when Weston Moniz came up with a dig and Kainoa Colipano later finished the play with a solo block for the finish. When a Waimea kill attempt found the net, the Warriors gained eight set points at 24-16. They needed just one as Moniz finished things off with a kill for a 1-0 lead in the match.
Keeping its foot on the gas, Kapa‘a used an 11-2 run to take a 15-7 lead in the second set and force a timeout. The stoppage didn’t slow the Warriors as they won the next three points, capped by a Hunter Hudson ace for the 18-7 lead. The Menehune showed fight to get the deficit back to eight on two occasions, including a Devan Banasihan-Kenney ace, but a Waimea shot found the net on the next point and the Warriors grabbed the 2-0 lead.
Colipano had four kills in the second set for Kapa‘a, along with 1.5 blocks. Kanoa Nartatez had two kills and 1.5 blocks, while Matt Domingcil had a pair of kills. Adam Clark had two blocks and Austin Delos Santos had two kills and three digs. Bradley Coloma and Tyrus Moises had three and two assists, respectively.
Kaili Schumacher-Lagundino had six kills to lead Waimea, which got 1.5 blocks from Kalen McCracken and six assists from Jonathon Tangalin.
The Menehune showed their grit in the third, running out to a 6-1 lead to start. But the Warriors came back and and an 11-3 run put them up 13-10. The two teams battled back and forth from there, until they found themselves tied at 22-22. Coloma fed Moniz for a kill to take a one-point lead, but McCracken evened the score again with a solo block at the net. After a service ace for a set point, Waimea scored the set win on a long rally. Three Kapa‘a digs and a block still weren’t enough to re-tie the score as a Warrior shot eventually found the net, giving the Menehune the 25-23 win.
Schumacher-Lagundino again led his side with four kills, while McCracken had 2.5 blocks. Tangalin had six assists and Chase Parongao and McCracken had three digs apiece.
The Warriors took an early 6-3 lead on a Colipano ace and maintained that margin for much of the fourth set until using an 8-2 run for a 22-14 advantage. Points 21 and 22 were identical finishes as Coloma found Nartatez each time for the spike. A Menehune error gave the Warriors nine match points at 24-15 and they got the victory on the first one after another Wamiea miscue.
Delos Santos and Nartatez had three kills apiece in the set, while Clark had two kills and 1.5 blocks. Hudson had three digs and a pair of assists, while Coloma and Moises had four assists apiece.
In the junior varsity match, Kapa‘a was victorious over Waimea by scores of 25-17, 25-8, 25-10.
The Kaua‘i-Island School JV resulted in three wins for the Raiders by scores of 25-14, 25-11, 25-23.
The teams finish the first half of the second round on Tuesday, when the Warriors play host to the Voyagers in Kapa‘a and the Menehune host the Red Raiders in Waimea. JV matches will begin at 5 p.m., with varsity to follow.
