LIHUE — The Kauai High School tennis teams weathered rain delays to claim victories, Saturday during the opening round of Kauai Interscholastic Federation tennis that was contested against Waimea High School at the Hokuala tennis courts at Timbers Resort.
The Raider girls flowed through its series, taking Waimea, 5-0, and on the boys’ courts, Kauai prevailed 3-2.
“We’re very proud of our players and how they executed many of the strategies and skills we have been practicing over the past few months,” said Kauai tennis coach Shannon Burkman. “The players had to battle through some rainy and windy conditions and were able to overcome some of these physical and mental obstacles to get the win.”
On the girls’ court, Kauai’s Anna Burkman downed Waimea’s Louisa Tanigawa, 6-1, 6-1, in the Girls First Singles match that started on time, but was interrupted by passing showers and time delays after the courts became wet with standing water.
Kauai’s Tia Fulks gave up one set to Waimea’s Leslie Uri on the Girls Second Singles court, 6-0, 6-1.
Despite rain delays on the Girls First Doubles, the Raider duo of Hoku Iseri and Katherine O’Neill weathered the stoppage to defeat the Waimea pair of Kamalani Goo and Rhona Lei Batacan, 6-0, 6-0.
Kauai’s Miya Reese teamed with Emily Melchor to down the Menehune pair of Julie Jane Remegio and Keria Moritsugu-Vandehey, 6-1, 6-0 on the Girls Second Doubles court, and Kauai’s Selma Tausend paired with Mikaela Shipley to round out the sweep by getting past Waimea’s Mariah Medina and Braelyn Cayaban, 6-1, 7-5 on the Girls Third Doubles floor.
Trevor Carbonel’s father was discretely obscured within the shadow of the Ocean Course wind screen, watching the action on the Boys First Singles arena.
“He can’t see me,” the excited father who plays with John Rivera’s musical group said between rain delays. “I don’t want him to see me, watching.”
Trevor came off the rain delay to weather the challenge of Waimea’s Breicin Medina, 6-3, 6-2.
Waimea redeemed that loss on the Boys Second Singles arena when Fred Ryl Adella handed Dwayne Ancajas a 6-2, 6-3 loss.
Kauai opened boys doubles play with a loss after Thaine Ochoco and Christian Teves fell to Waimea’s Wendell Batangan and Alvin Rafael, 2-6, 6-4, 4-6 in a three-set nail biter on the Boys First Doubles arena.
The Raiders answered on the Boys Second Doubles floor when Micah Matsunaga teamed with Thomas Vetter to defeat Waimea’s Wayne Noda and Dylan Clarke, 6-2, 6-1.
Ben Brady, making the move from boys volleyball court to tennis, teamed with Tanner Lee to come up with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Menehune duo of Vittorio Altomare and Jhames Rhagus on the Boys Third Doubles court.
“We had a few players who started that have had little, or no experience in match play,” Coach Burkman said. “We were very impressed with their confidence and mental fortitude. We were also very happy to see our more experienced players execute their shots, manage their mental game, and make the adjustments on the courts.”
Rain delays also plagued tennis play taking place at the Kauai Community College courts where Island School hosted Kapaa High School in an afternoon series.
“This is bad,” said Chris Ang, the Kapaa High School trainer who huddled against the wind and rain under an umbrella. “We only have a short window to get the matches in. When the light goes, it’ll be over.”
Kauai will host Kapaa High School, Saturday when the first set serves up at 9 a.m. at the Timbers Kauai Resort at Hokuala tennis courts. Island School will host Waimea at the Kauai Community College courts starting with the first service at 1 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
