LIHUE — The stage is set. Kapaa High School and Island School will square off for the Kauai Interscholastic Federation tennis titles starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Makai Golf Club in Princeville. The showdown comes after the stage
LIHUE — The stage is set.
Kapaa High School and Island School will square off for the Kauai Interscholastic Federation tennis titles starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Makai Golf Club in Princeville.
The showdown comes after the stage was set Saturday, when Kapaa swept its matches against Waimea at the Kauai Lagoons tennis courts.
“This is something like deja vu all over again,” said Richard Wanek, Kapaa coach. “For the second straight year, Kapaa and Island School will battle it out on the North Shore for KIF tennis titles.”
Wanek said the Kapaa boys are undefeated at 4-0 and look to finish strong and take the KIF title for the second consecutive year.
“The girls’ matchup will bring an undefeated Island School girls team to match Kapaa’s girls, currently 3-1, who are looking to avenge its only loss to Island School earlier in the season.”
On the girls’ courts Saturday, Kiarra Tamayose, playing on the No. 1 singles court, recovered from an illness in time to defeat Emily Evans of Waimea, 6-1, 6-2.
“I didn’t break my fever until Thursday,” Tamayose said. “Friday was my first day back at practice, and I’ve still not completely shaken off the cold.”
Kapaa No. 2 girls singles Isabella Kotsol took a 6-0, 6-0 match over Waimea’s Shania Miner, who is new to singles play and usually plays doubles.
“She can do it,” Adrian Alvarez, the Waimea coach, said of Miner’s new experience. “She just needs to get out there and start playing.”
On the girls doubles court, Kapaa took all of its matches when Shannon Sitzler paired with Brittany Uribe to get past Micah Guillermo and Ashley Pascual, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 1 girls doubles.
Chelsea Ferrer teamed with Jasmine Carnate to get past Waimea’s Kristine Ruiz and Khryshia Pascual, 6-4, 6-3 on the No. 2 girls doubles court.
The Kapaa duo of Deidre Andaya and Chiara Fumagalli defeated Waimea’s Mia Lorenzo and Madelle Florendo, 6-3, 6-1, on the No. 3 doubles court.
Boys results
The Warrior boys had a tougher time. Waimea won the two singles matches, but Kapaa bounced back to take the doubles sets and the 3-2 overall win.
Waimea’s Marcus Perreira got past Kapaa’s Kai Harrison, 6-2, 6-4, on the No. 1 singles court, and the Menehune’s Patrick Cowell got the better of Wyatt Harrison, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, on the No. 2 singles court.
“I like to challenge my players,” Wanek said. “But I made a coaching error, not realizing the Harrison boys had played a close five-set volleyball game the night before, beating out a tough Waimea team. The Harrison boys were both a little flat and beat up from that emotional victory, but that does not take away from Marcus and Patrick, who had consistent good play and got a bit of revenge for Waimea’s volleyball loss.”
The Kapaa boys came back to preserve an undefeated record with just two games remaining in the KIF season.
Matt Steinohrt and Shawn Yamane paired for a 6-2, 7-5, win over Waimea’s Joshua Subiate and Gilson Guillermo on the No. 1 doubles court.
Kapaa followed with a win of its own when Joshua “Bear” Zietz and John Uribe paired for a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, victory over Waimea’s Riley Saiki and Marc Serapio on the No. 2 doubles court.
The Warriors’ go-ahead match came after Jake De Peralta paired with Braedon Andrews for a 6-4, 6-3, win over Robbie Jiao and Keigan Donaher on the No. 3 doubles court.
“These were good matches,” Wanek said. “The Waimea boys doubles teams are always well coached so I was proud of the way our boys played.”
The upcoming weekend matches are part of the Makai Golf Club’s Masters Golf Tournament weekend celebration.
“Tom Freestone, the Makai Golf Club’s manager, has donated their courts for the second straight year to bring tennis to the North Shore,” Wanek said. “We are so grateful to play in such a nice venue for such critical matches.”
