LIHUE — The Red Raider boys got their first win of the season’s second round. Kauai High School’s varsity boys volleyball team defeated Island School in straight sets at home Friday evening — 25-11, 25-18 and 25-13. “The kids did
LIHUE — The Red Raider boys got their first win of the season’s second round.
Kauai High School’s varsity boys volleyball team defeated Island School in straight sets at home Friday evening — 25-11, 25-18 and 25-13.
“The kids did really well,” said Kauai High head coach Enoch A’ana. “I think they were focused on what needed to be done. I think we’re still sticking to our game plan. It has to work sometime, so we’re hoping it continues to go the way it’s going.”
Kauai High (5-3 KIF, 1-1 2nd round) tallied seven aces in the opening set to win in double digits.
Red Raiders senior setter Jhay-Carl Miguel and sophomore outside hitter Kaimani Tecson each had back-to-back aces in the first.
“I kept telling them, ‘Today, we just got to play hard and not let anything deter us from our goal.’ And that was to get to the finish line and not break down,” A’ana said. “We have a tendency of doing that. (We wanted to) just to mentally stay strong, and they did. They were great tonight.”
Island School (0-8 KIF, 0-2 2nd round) briefly held a lead early in the second set. Voyagers junior outside hitter Reece Valencia scored three of his total four kills in the middle frame.
Kauai then took a 9-8 lead on an ace by freshman libero Rence Soriano. The Red Raiders kept that lead through until the 25-18 final.
Kauai High then completed the win in straight sets off a match-winning ace by senior outside hitter Faatai Mamea.
The Red Raiders team cheered after the ace by Mamea, who typically doesn’t see much playing time.
“Not every day, the second string gets to jump in and play. It’s games like this that they get to show what they have,” A’ana said. “This kid has never missed a practice. This kid always shows up. Now he’s probably going to peak, and I hope so.”
Miguel had a game-high 13 assists with a kill and two aces for Kauai High. Tecson had two aces, a kill and an assist. Soriano had three aces and five digs.
Red Raiders senior middle blocker Noah Marshall led the team with seven kills. Senior outside hitter Tyron Libario-Moses had six.
Voyagers senior outside hitter Kahea Kamalani had four kills and five digs for Island School. Senior setter Andres Elzaurdia had five assists, two kills and an ace. Junior setter Ryan Yavinsky had six assists, a kill and a dig.
Island School varsity head coach Brandon Wong was not available for comment following Friday’s match.
Kauai High also won the junior varsity match, 2-1. The JV Red Raiders defeated the Voyagers in a closely contested game — 25-23, 24-26 and 25-22.
Kauai High will play at Waimea (3-5 KIF, 1-1 2nd round) at 6 p.m. Friday.
Island School will host Kapaa (8-0 KIF, 2-0 2nd round) on Friday. The JV match begins 5 p.m. and the varsity will follow.
