WAIMEA — It was a must win for the Menehune, who did just that on their Senior Night. Waimea kept its hopes for a second-round championship alive with a 3-1 victory over the Kapa‘a Warriors, Tuesday night at the Clem
WAIMEA — It was a must win for the Menehune, who did just that on their Senior Night. Waimea kept its hopes for a second-round championship alive with a 3-1 victory over the Kapa‘a Warriors, Tuesday night at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea.
Entering the match with a 4-0 second-round record, Kapa‘a was in a position to clinch a spot in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation match with a victory. Waimea sat one game back in the standings at 3-1, a win the only way to stay in the hunt with just one more match to play.
After dropping the opening set, the Menehune took three straight to set up Friday’s final regular season contests, which will now determine an outright second-round winner, or whether a playoff will be necessary.
With the 20-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 win, Waimea moves into a first-place tie with Kapa‘a, each team at 4-1 and still with an opportunity to take on the Kaua‘i Red Raiders for the KIF crown.
Kevin Killerman was the top attacker for Waimea, finishing the match with 18 kills, as well as 2.5 blocks.
Kaili Schumacher-Lagundino had 13 kills and two blocks. Kalen McCracken piled up eight kills, 3.5 blocks and a pair of digs. Keoni Ana had five kills, Devan Banasihan-Kenney had three digs and two aces, and Chase Parongao had a match-high eight digs.
Setter Jonathon Tangalin had a match-high 33 assists, along with a pair of blocks.
Matt Domingcil topped the Warriors with 10 kills to go with three blocks. Austin Delos Santos had seven kills and Kainoa Colipano had six kills and 2.5 blocks. Adam Clark finished with five kills and 3.5 blocks, while Weston Moniz had five kills, two blocks and two digs.
Bradley Coloma led Kapa‘a with 15 assists and Tyrus Moises followed with nine. Hunter Hudson had six digs and an ace.
Waimea was strong from the start, using a 7-1 run in the opening set to take a 15-8 lead and force a Kapa‘a timeout. The stoppage seemed to calm the Warriors, who then used their own 8-1 stretch to pull even at 16-16. Ahead 21-20, Kapa‘a scored the set’s final four points, as a net violation gave it set point at 24-20, which was followed by a Waimea error.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair, both teams holding leads but not able to get much separation. With the score tied at 21-21, Waimea took control by scoring a side out, then getting an ace from Schumacher-Lagundino for a 23-21 lead. A Warrior shot sailed out, giving the Menehune three set points, but they needed just one as another Warrior shot failed to fall within the lines, evening the match at one set apiece.
Midway throught the third, a Banasihan-Kenney ace put Waimea ahead 16-11 and the Menehune lead would not dip below two points for the rest of the set. Up 23-21, Killerman finished off a kill on a Tangalin feed for three set points. The following point was one of the highlights of the night as both teams fought to stay alive, Killerman and Tangalin each coming up with digs during the action. It was again Killerman who finished off the point for Waimea, giving them a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Warriors started strong in the fourth, taking an early 6-3 lead and maintaining it through the middle stages for a 15-12 edge. But the Menehune used an 8-2 run to jump ahead 20-17. Tangalin and Killerman again combined for a set-spike that gave Waimea five match points at 24-19. The next point resulted in a Kapa‘a kill into the net, which kept the Menehune’s hopes for a KIF title firmly within their sights.
In the junior varsity contest, Kapa‘a took the opening two sets by scores of 25-12 and 25-20, before Waimea came away with the third-set win, 25-23.
Friday, Waimea heads to Lihu‘e to take on the Kaua‘i Red Raiders, while Kapa‘a travels to Puhi to face the Island School Voyagers. A win for either Waimea or Kapa‘a, coupled with the other team losing its match would result in a second-round champion. If both Waimea and Kapa‘a have the same result Friday, a playoff between the two would be necessary to determine the second-round champ.
JV matches will begin at 5 p.m., with varsity to follow.
Results from the Kaua‘i-Island School match were unavailable as of press time.
