PUHI — Adrienne Graycochea had seven kills to lead Kauai High School to a 3-0 win over Island School Tuesday night at the Island School gym. Graycochea combined with Harley Kaeo who had five kills and three big blocks and
PUHI — Adrienne Graycochea had seven kills to lead Kauai High School to a 3-0 win over Island School Tuesday night at the Island School gym.
Graycochea combined with Harley Kaeo who had five kills and three big blocks and Kawehi Harris who had five kills in the second set to keep the Red Raiders ahead of the Voyagers, 25-15, 25-11 and 25-22.
“We were off-tempo, tonight,” said Kauai High School coach Dorene Matias. “We were working for a service error-free night, but that didn’t happen. We did cut down on the number of service errors, though.”
In the first set, Island School stayed close and even took the lead 10-9 on a push by Autumn Warnock. Kauai’s Harris answered to deadlock the match 10-10 before Kauai pulled ahead for good. Harris closed the first set on a hit up the middle.
“We are healthy, but we have no bodies,” said Brad Sato, Island School coach. “It’s fall break and there are kids on vacation. But we’re all healthy. The girls had the jitterbug early, but once they shook that, had some really good rallies.”
The tight exchange continued through the second set. Kauai’s Teyanni Esaki scored an ace to fuel the Red Raider’s 6-5 lead and hits from Harris and Kaeo gave Kauai a 14-9 lead. Kaeo closed the set with an ace.
The third set was tight throughout. A Kauai serving error deadlocked the match, 5-5. Kauai’s Sarah Matsunaga’s ace deadlocked the match 15-15 and a tandem block by Kaeo and Seanna Date pulled Kauai up 17-15 before Kaeo sent the ball up the middle for a 20-19 lead.
The seesaw continued. Island School’s Anne Cushnie got a kill to stay close 20-21 before Graycochea pulled Kauai up 23-22. Kauai’s Amanda Cadavona sealed the deal with a push over the net.
“Island School is not a team to take lightly,” Matias said. “As they get more time and experience on the court, they’re going to get better.”
Sato was pleased with how the girls were moving on the court, noting Katie Davidson had a great passing game
“The energy was high,” Sato said. “This is the first time the girls were vocally believing in what we were telling them, encouraging each other on the floor.”
Matias said the team has work to do.
“The fall break disrupted the routine and that’s not good,” Matias said. “We need to get back to the table to see what else we can improve on.”
Earlier in the evening, the Kauai High School junior varsity kept its undefeated record intact, taking down Island School JV, 3-0 — 25-10, 25-11 and 25-15.
Kauai travels to the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea Friday to take on the Menehune.
“Waimea is tough,” Matias said. “They are a scrappy team … and they’ve had time to reorganize.”
Island School will travel to the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapaa to take on the Warriors Friday. In both cases, the JV games start at 5 p.m. and the varsity start no earlier than 6:30 p.m.
