Warriors fall to Eagles in title match

Kapaa High School’s varsity boys volleyball team settled for second place in the New City Nissan Boys Volleyball Championships – Division II state tournament.

The No. 2 seeded Warriors lost to No. 1 Hawaii Baptist Academy of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu in the Division II championship match Saturday in straight sets — 25-17, 25-23 and 25-20.

Play was neck-and-neck in the second and third sets. A kill by Warriors senior outside hitter Carson Schmick leveled the score at 20-20 in the third set.

Four Eagles kills and a Warriors attacking error, though, sealed Hawaii Baptist its ninth Division II championship in the last 10 years, now including the last seven tournament titles.

Schmick led the Warriors offense with 12 kills. Warriors senior middle Saxsen Shiira had 11 kills. Senior outside hitter Kurt Napoleon had six kills. Warriors senior setter Jayson Hawthorne had 33 assists and a kill.

Eagles junior outside hitter Michael Johnson led HBA with 15 kills. Senior outside hitter Kellen Takatsuka had 10 kills. Junior setter Davin Rausch also had 33 assists and one kill.

Kapaa ends its season with an 14-1 overall record — going an undefeated 12-0 in the regular season en route to winning consecutive Kauai Interscholastic Federation championships, and 2-1 in the Division II state tournament.

Prior to the championship game, Kapaa defeated Konawaena of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation in straight sets in the opening round Thursday, and then beat Saint Francis of the ILH in straight sets in the semifinals Friday.

Kapaa High School boys volleyball head coach Kapule Kaona could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Division II results from Saturday are:

w Championship: No. 1 Hawaii Baptist (ILH) 3, No. 2 Kapaa (KIF) 0

w Third place: Saint Francis (ILH) 2, No. 4 Molokai (MIL) 0

w Fifth place: Hawaii Prep (BIIF) 2, Konawaena (BIIF) 0

Information from Hawaii High School Athletic Association and ScoringLive contributed to this story.