LIHUE — Waimea High School senior Gabrielle Peleras pounded and blocked before the standing-room-only crowd that jammed the Kauai High School gym Friday night.
“This was very healthy,” said Waimea coach Chad Delanoza. “This was a very good game. Coach Kehau and the Red Raiders made us fight for every point. Good job to all of them.”
Peleras and fellow seniors Keana Silva and Leiko Yamauchi took the leadership reins and guided the Menehune to a five-set win — 10-25, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25 and 16-14 — before the sea of red and blue shirts that overflowed the Raider gym during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball game that was senior night for eight Kauai High School players.
“Looking back, there isn’t a thing I would have changed,” said Kauai coach Kehau Regidor. “My heart was racing. There was a run when Waimea forced some errors, but there isn’t a thing I would change. We didn’t get the ‘w,’ but I’m proud of the girls and how they played hard out there. They had fun.”
Seniors Maria Gojkovic, Hailey Iha and Rebecca Zenger took control for the Raiders to lead the first 25-10 Kauai win, Gojkovic nailing the final point to send the sea of red shirts to a cheering frenzy. Gojkovic’s kill started a string of seven unanswered points by Zenger for a 20-9 lead that clinched the first set, the string being aided by an Iha block, and Iha slams up the middle.
The Menehune answered in the second set when libero Tehani Togioka took the service block for six answered points for an 18-9 lead, the string getting aided by a pair of Peleras hammers, and strong hits from Yamauchi and Raelee Samio, one of two sophomores on the squad.
Kauai battled back to an 18-15 lead in the third set behind a pair of Iha slams before Peleras sealed the deal.
A Zenger block helped the fourth set teeter-totter, 20-18, and followed the defensive feat with an ace before a Menehune net violation settled the scoreboard at 22-18, Gojkovic settling the set on another hammer and forcing the fifth set.
A Kauai miscue knotted the fifth set, 11-11. Zenger’s whack gained Kauai advantage and another Iha hit kept the fire stoked, 13-12 before Waimea knotted the affair on a Peleras bang, 13-13. Deadlocked 14-14, Peleras hammered out the final two points to seal the deal.
“There was a lot of emotion out there,” Delanoza said. “Not only did my niece Shyann Freitas come home from her accident recovery, we knew it was going to be a war out there. The credit for the win goes to my coaching staff, who did a lot of homework and got the girls to believe in what we are doing. The coaching staff were major contributors to the win.”
Freitas’ appearance on the Menehune’s junior varsity bench helped stoke the JV Menehune to a three-set win over Kauai, 25-16, 25-12 and 25-23. In a demonstration of sportsmanship, Regidor led the Kauai High School girls volleyball program with a presentation of well wishes for the recovering Freitas. The gesture was followed by high fives from each of the Red Raider players — varsity and junior varsity.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
