KAPA‘A — The Red Raiders were coming off of a loss to the hands of the Waimea Menehune on Wednesday, so it was no surprise that the team came out playing tenaciously Saturday night against the Kapa‘a Warriors at the
KAPA‘A — The Red Raiders were coming off of a loss to the hands of the Waimea Menehune on Wednesday, so it was no surprise that the team came out playing tenaciously Saturday night against the Kapa‘a Warriors at the Kapa‘a High School Gym. Kaua‘i’s aggressive play led to a victory in straight sets as they took down Kapa‘a 25-15, 25-20 and 25-18.
The first set started off closely contested, however, the Red Raiders were able to rally off six straight points on two separate occasions, which allowed them to pull away late in the set.
The second set was more of the same story to start as Kaua‘i took the first five points of the set and eventually went ahead with a commanding 9-1 lead.
Kapa‘a would respond though as the Warriors never gave up, with solid play from Justice Brown-Kimura and Kai‘imi Moniz. Kapa‘a would come as close as 21-19 off a kill by Brown-Kimura and stellar serving from Moniz, but Kaua‘i was able to hold on to take the second set putting them in a comfortable position heading into the third set.
Kaua‘i was lead by a number of stand out performers including Kawehi Louis-Diamond, Tahra Kaui, Adrienne Graycochea, Jondee Rivera and Ashley Ramelb.
The third set was a memorable one, filled with rallies, kills and digs from both sides of the court. Kapa‘a took the early lead thanks in part to a pair of blocks by Brown-Kimura and Moniz. It didn’t take the Red Raiders long to respond due to a number of kills by Louis-Diamond. With the score still close late in the set at 20-18, the Red Raiders did as they did all night and closed the set strong. Catapulted by solid serves from Graycochea, Kaua‘i was able to rally off the last five points of the match, which gave the team the victory.
Kaua‘i moves to 1-1 on the year, as the Red Raiders prepare to take on Island School at the Island School Gym Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
The loss take Kapa‘a down to 1-1 on the season. Its next game is against the Waimea Menehune at the Waimea High School Gym at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
In junior varsity action, the Warriors were able to take the Red Raiders; 25-20, 25-21 and 25-16 for the victory in straight sets.
• Rick Killeen, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or sports@thegardenisland.com.
