WAIMEA — Waimea High School coach Chad Delanoza was proud of the way the Menehune girls volleyball team took its match against Kauai High School in straight sets Wednesday night at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea.
Playing before an audience of several hundred enthusiastic fans who jammed the Clem Gomes made humid by the weather, the Menehune wahine locked up a straight-set win — 25-17, 25-23, and 25-21 — to open the second round of Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball.
“They worked hard all night,” Delanoza said, “and they did it in straight sets.”
Working in synch, the Menehune worked alternate setting by freshman Breanna Moises and senior Leiko Yamauchi who got in her share of whacks and solid defense as well.
Offensive hitting were led by seniors Keana Silva and Gabrielle Peleras, and Raelee Samio with help from the secondaries like Isabella Bateman and Kaye Serapio whose hits for points generated appreciative cheer from Menehune fans.
The Red Raiders, led by coaches Kehaulani Regidor and Harley Ka‘eo, struggled against a blanket of court infractions. They had their bright moments in the second set when Waileia Edwards exploded in glee at a hit for point, and capitalizing on a Waimea hitting error, the Raiders knotted the set, 9-9.
But Silva took the service block for Waimea and strung up five unanswered points, fueled by hits from Silva, Peleras and a pair of Red Raider miscues to pull ahead, 15-10.
Kauai stayed close with Vanessa Alcones answering the long service string, including an ace, and Rebecca Zenger whacking one to pull Kauai to within one, 19-20.
A Kauai net violation, and a Waimea ace from Moises pushed the Waimea lead to four points, and the Raiders battled back, capitalizing on a Menehune net infraction and a bang from Hailey Iha up the middle for the 21-23 chase.
A Kauai error gave Waimea Point 24, and Kauai would not relent, coming back with another Iha bang and capitalized on a Menehune passing error before Silva put away the set, 25-23.
“This comes back to a conversation we had earlier in the season,” Delanoza said. “Consistency. It’s hard to be consistent if there is no commitment. Whether it’s the Starting Six, or the bench, we need 110 percent from the players. This is something we need to work on. Practice is where this all starts.”
Kauai came back strong in the third set, knotting the contest in exciting fashion on five occasions before Samio’s bang closed the curtain, 25-21.
Kauai’s Maria Gojkovic came up with two big hits, and Kauai capitalized on a pair of Menehune miscues to knot the set, 9-9. A Zenger bang knotted the match, 11-11, and a Gojkovic hammer put Kauai up 14-12 before a Kauai net violation and a Bateman block knotted the set, 14-14.
The Raiders’ Bukoski brought the red-shirted fans to life, capping a long volley with a bang to knot the set at 20-20 before Waimea pulled ahead to close the door.
“Kauai is a good team, and only going to get better,” Delanoza said. “As I said earlier, all of the teams are good, and all the games will be exciting.”
Earlier in the evening, the Waimea High School junior varsity took a straight-set win over the JV Raiders, 25-18, 15-17, and 25-18. Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium at Island School, the JV Warriors were also straight-set winner over the JV Voyagers, 26-24, 25-9, 27-22. No scores were available for the varsity match at press time.
Waimea next hosts Island School, Saturday at the Clem Gomes Gym where the junior varsity match serves up at 5 p.m. followed by the varsity contest starting no earlier than 6:30 p.m. Kauai High School will host Kapaa at the Kauai High School gym.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
