KAPA‘A — After the second set Friday night, the Kapa‘a High School Warriors appeared as if it was going to bow out in straight sets and let the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders walk away with a dominant win and
KAPA‘A — After the second set Friday night, the Kapa‘a High School Warriors appeared as if it was going to bow out in straight sets and let the Kaua‘i High School Red Raiders walk away with a dominant win and the lead in the KIF volleyball standings. However, appearances can be deceiving. The Warriors would not only thwart the Red Raider’s efforts of winning in three sets, but Kapa‘a would go on to push it to five sets and win 21-25, 14-25, 25-15, 25-21 and 15-9.
The fifth set saw Kapa‘a play some of its best volleyball of the night, and ended in a flurry of kill shots.
Rudy Agoot, Kristoffer Astrero and Jeremiah Obrero seemed unstoppable at the net for the Warriors. Obrero had some of the most vicious spikes of the night, and credit goes to the Warrior setters for getting him the ball often in those situations.
With the score 6-6 in the final set, Kapa‘a would go on a run and win 9 of the last 12 points, including a Agoot kill to cap off of the game.
The Warriors showed a high amount of moxie and seemed to never be fazed by being in the hole it found itself in.
“It was a battle,” said Kapa‘a High School Head Coach Kapule Kaona. “It was point-for-point early on, and we made a lot of unforced errors late in the first set, and that got their spirits down.”
The first set was probably the most competitive of the night, and the Red Raiders played its best volleyball of the night late in that set.
“The third set was the momentum changer for us.” Kaona said. “I told the boys, ‘We need to show up now, or we are going home,’ and they came out and drilled them in that set, which really gave us confidence.”
The Warriors responded to Kaona’s words and put forth a dominant third set, which created momentum it was able to carry over for the remainder of the game.
Kaua‘i, on the other hand, must be slightly concerned as the team has now let two games that it was up 2-0 travel to five sets, and looked sloppy at times.
Kaua‘i did excel at the service line on Friday. Specifically, Marcus Carvalho and Grant Basquez, who each notched a number of aces on the night, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
With the win, Kapa‘a improves to 2-0 on the season and sits by itself atop the KIF standings. The Warriors will travel to Waimea to take on the 1-1 Menehune Tuesday.
Kaua‘i falls to 1-1 and will play Island School at the Kaua‘i High School gym Tuesday.
