Waimea High School girls volleyball team finished fourth at the New City Nissan Hawaii High School Athletic Association, Division II volleyball championships on Friday. The Menehune wahine fell to St. Francis, 24-26, 26-24, 13-15 in a time-limited contest for third
Waimea High School girls volleyball team finished fourth at the New City Nissan Hawaii High School Athletic Association, Division II volleyball championships on Friday.
The Menehune wahine fell to St. Francis, 24-26, 26-24, 13-15 in a time-limited contest for third place at the McKinley High School gym in Honolulu.
Unseeded in state tournament play, Waimea opened strong with a 25-15, 25-12 25-18 win over Pahoa of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation on Tuesday during the opening night.
The momentum carried Waimea through the quarterfinals, Wednesday when the team upset the No. 4 seed Radford Rams, 3-2.
Seniors Mariyah Oliver and Lei Alejandro, both strong in the win over Pahoa, led the Menehune in its upset win, Oliver ending with 18 kills and two blocks while Alejandro marked 17 kills and two blocks.
Talia Young, one of the Menehune’s strong cross country leaders, finished with 14 kills, two blocks and an ace in the win over Radford, and Kawena Warren filled the middle with 12 kills, nine blocks and two aces.
The win over the Rams pit the Menehune against Konawaena who upset the top-seeded University High, 3-2, Wednesday night.
The anticipated game never materialized Thursday as Konawaena of the BIIF, also unseeded in the tournament, took the match, 3-0 on scores of 25-20, 25-19, and 25-23 behind the prowess of Chanelle Molina, who finished with 18 kills, 13 digs and a block, and Celena Molina, who added eight kills, two aces, and 18 digs. Makani Wall finished with 23 assists and three kills, eventually being named to the Division II all-tournament squad.
Waimea’s efforts were led by Alejandro who finished with seven kills and seven digs, Young who put up five kills, two blocks and eight digs, and Warren, who ended with five kills and three blocks. Bailey San Agustine-Nordmeier finished with 15 assists.
Konawaena went on to clinch Division II of the state girls volleyball tournament, downing No. 3 seed Hawaii Preparatory Academy, 25-16, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21, Friday night.
Warren, a senior middle from Waimea, was the sole Kauai Interscholastic Federation player named to the Division II All-Tournament team which saw Chanelle Molina of Kona announced as the Most Outstanding Player, being joined by teammates Celena Molina, Ela Seier, and Wall.
Visit www.sportshigh.com for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
