KAPA‘A — What looked like a potentially short evening turned into a typical Kaua‘i-Kapa‘a battle, but the Warriors came away victorious on Senior Night in five-set win over the Red Raiders, Saturday at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a. The
KAPA‘A — What looked like a potentially short evening turned into a typical Kaua‘i-Kapa‘a battle, but the Warriors came away victorious on Senior Night in five-set win over the Red Raiders, Saturday at the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a.
The 3-2 victory puts Kapa‘a at 4-0 in the season’s second round, still in control of its own destiny atop the standings.
After winning the first two sets and holding a lead late in the third, Kapa‘a wound up in a tight fifth set, but prevailed 15-12 when a Kaua‘i service error ended the evening.
The Warriors picked up four match points when Bradley Coloma fed Kainoa Colipano for a kill and a 14-10 edge in the decisive set. But Donovan Harrison finished back-to-back points with kills to save a pair, before the Raider serve found the net, giving Kapa‘a the hard-fought win.
Set scores in the Warrior win were 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 15-12.
Weston Moniz led Kapa‘a with 13 kills in the match, also contributing 3.5 blocks and three digs. The senior led a balanced attack, with Kanoa Nartatez following with nine kills, while Austin Delos Santos had seven kills and 1.5 blocks.
Adam Clark had seven kills and 4.5 blocks, while Colipano finished with six kills and 2.5 blocks. Matt Domingcil had five kills — three of them in the fifth set — to go with 3.5 blocks.
Hunter Hudson had five digs, while setters Tyrus Moises and Coloma had 24 and 20 assists, respectively.
Harrison had match highs with 19 kills and 10.5 blocks for Kaua‘i. Blaise Ferguson followed with nine kills, while Dane Bautista also had nine kills and 1.5 blocks. Joseph Machado had seven kills and 4.5 blocks, while Kaleo Tin had five kills and five digs.
Setter Jon Butac had a match-high 39 assists to go with three kills and Archie Vallatini came up from the junior varsity squad and had three kills and 2.5 blocks.
Hoping to stay unbeaten in the second round, Kapa‘a found itself down three points late in the opening set at 22-19. But it used a 5-0 run, capped off by a Taylor Langstaff ace to grab two set points at 24-22. Kaua‘i saved the first on a Bautista finish, but Moniz came through on the second off a Coloma feed for a 25-23 opening-set win.
The Warriors never trailed in the second set, but the score remained tight throughout. Tied at 19-19, Kapa‘a grabbed three straight points for some breathing room, then picked up four set points at 24-20 on a Kaua‘i error. Clark had the finishing touch on the next point to put the Warriors up 2-0 in the match with the 25-20 win.
The night appeared headed for its completion when the Warriors took a 21-16 lead in the third set, just four points from a sweep. From there, the Raiders used a 7-1 run to grab a 23-22 lead. Harrison finished a Butac pass for a set point at 24-23, then Kaua‘i got back into the match on a Kapa‘a error, closing the set.
The Red Raiders grabbed control of the fourth quickly, winning five of the first six points and leading by as many as seven on a few occasions before another Harrison kill finished things off, evening the match at 2-2.
Kaua‘i continued that momentum into the fifth and forced a Kapa‘a timeout by taking a 6-2 lead. But the Warriors responded with five straight points for the 7-6 advantage. Harrison had a solo block for a Raider point that put his team down one at 11-10, but the Warriors won the next three points for the 14-10 lead, before the set ended three points later on the service into the net.
In the day’s other varsity contest, the Waimea Menehune collected a 3-1 victory over the Island School Voyagers by scores of 25-15, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16. It marked the first match in the second round involving Island School that did not require five sets.
In the junior varsity contests, Island School was a 2-1 winner over Waimea by scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-18. Kapa‘a was a 3-0 winner over Kaua‘i by scores of 25-9, 25-22, 25-21.
