Red Raider girls win volleyball season opener

LIHUE — Kauai High School’s varsity girls volleyball team went on the road and defeated Island School 3-0 Wednesday night in their Kauai Interscholastic Federation season opener.

The team won by scores of 25-3, 25-6 and 25-12 at the Island School gym.

“The girls worked really hard from June until this moment,” said Kauai head coach Dorene Matias. “It showed. All their hard work showed.

“Serving, their passing and their plays worked really well. Everything was done on point,” she added.

Senior outside hitter Harley Kaeo scored four consecutive aces in the first set for Kauai. 

“(I tried to) look for the open hole on the court,” Kaeo said. “That’s what we practice. We practice (for) consistency. I just tried to do my best for me and my team.”

Island School head coach Brad Sato said his team is small, young and inexperienced but hopes it will improve as the season continues.

“Kauai High looked game-fit. They looked very experienced and they showed it,” the Voyagers coach said. “We’re very young and we have yet to get the game experience that they have. Hopefully we can get there by the end of the season.

“We’ve had eight girls for a long time now. Just the school population isn’t as big as the public schools. It is a battle that we fight, but it’s something we can overcome I think,” Sato added.

Despite the sweep and winning each set by large margins, Matias said her team still has its work cut out.

“More communication and being faster on the court. (Being a) faster offense,” Matias said about what her team can improve on. 

Kauai will play at Waimea and Island School will stay at home to play Kapaa on Saturday. In both events, the junior varsity games start at 5 p.m. and the varsity teams will play no later than 6:30 p.m.

“They (Waimea) were the KIF champs last year. We have a lot to prepare for,” Matias said.