WAIMEA — The Warriors and Menehune have had quite the season series. Each team has won three of the six games they’ve played against one another. But in the game where the league title was on the line, the Warriors
WAIMEA — The Warriors and Menehune have had quite the season series. Each team has won three of the six games they’ve played against one another.
But in the game where the league title was on the line, the Warriors came out on top.
Kapaa High School’s varsity girls volleyball team defeated Waimea in straight sets in the Kauai Interscholastic Federation championship match Wednesday evening at Waimea High School.
“Speechless. Just so thankful for my sisters and the amazing sisterhood that we have, that we were able to stick together tonight and play as one,” said Warriors senior setter Kunani Tuttle. “And also (thankful) to our Heavenly Father for helping us overcome our trials.”
Kapaa (11-3 KIF, 1-1 playoff) jumped out to a lead as large as eight en route to winning the first set, 25-19. The Warriors recorded six blocks in that opening set — two apiece by junior middle blocker Paea Tafea, senior backside hitter Tori Daligcon-Pomaikai and senior middle blocker Siokapesi Paua.
The Warriors went on to win the next two sets, 25-15 and 25-15. Senior outside hitter Haaheo Mahinai scored the game-winning kill in the last set. Tuttle had the assist.
“It feels so amazing. I don’t even know how to express how happy I am right now,” Tuttle said. “It’s just, definitely, an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’ll never forget.”
For Warriors head coach Evan Costa, who has been the head of the program for three years, it is his first league championship.
Costa said considering his team lost at home to Waimea the previous night in the second round playoff game, he was unsure of how the title game would play out.
“I had questions marks about who was going to show up tonight. I knew coming into the Blue, I knew what they (Waimea) were bringing. I was wondering what Kapaa team was going to show up,” Costa said. “The team we had hoped for, we had prayed for, we had trained for, they showed up and played.”
Menehune head coach Chad Delanoza said whereas errors were kept at a minimum during Tuesday’s playoff game, it was the opposite in the title match.
“Tonight, we had a lot of unforced errors. But the game still had to be played. Either you’ll be relentless and go full-speed ahead, or you’ll be tentative and commit all these little errors that didn’t put us in the correct spot,” Delanoza said. “Kapaa played an awesome match tonight. You can’t take (anything) away from them. They came, they prepared, and they took it to us. We had no answers when were were down.”
Waimea (10-4 KIF, 1-1 playoff) was without senior outside hitter Ariell Aquino-Lazaro for the second set. Following the opening play of the set, she sustained a rib injury chasing after a ball that was headed for the bleachers. She was laying down for a few minutes before she made her way to the team bench.
Aquino-Lazaro re-entered the game at the beginning of the third set, scoring a kill right after her return onto the floor. She ended the game with four kills, an ace and an assist.
“I just went over the top when I did that. I sat for a little bit, but I got back in it because I wasn’t going to give up on my team,” Aquino-Lazaro said about the injury. “It was pretty tough (to sit out), but the other people stepped up. They did their job as best as they could.”
Though it wasn’t the storybook ending Waimea had hoped for, Aquino-Lazaro said coming up short at the end doesn’t belittle what the team accomplished throughout the season.
“(I’ll remember) the friendships I’ve got from this, and the coaches that never game up on us. No matter what the outcome was, they were always there for us,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade my team for the world.”
Paua was Kapaa’s leading scorer with 10 kills and six blocks. Daligcon-Pomaikai had seven kills and three blocks. Tafea had six kills and three blocks. Tuttle had 29 assists and a kill.
Senior middle blocker Brandee Burton recorded five kills, an ace and a block for Waimea. Junior outside hitter Maria Foisaga had seven kills. Freshman setter Leiko Yamauchi had five kills and an assist. Senior setter Alyssa Pigao had 25 assists.
Kapaa will play in the New City Nissan Girls Volleyball Championships — Division II state tournament, which begins Oct. 28 on Oahu.
