KAPAA — Slow starts were costly to hosts Kapaa High School girls volleyball team, Wednesday night during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball matches at the Bernice Hundley Gym.
Despite the jubilance and momentum of the Warrior Junior Varsity straight-set victory — 25-15, 26-24, and 25-20 — over the Island School JV, the Lady Warriors sputtered to a straight set loss to the varsity Voyagers — 21-25, 23-25, and 17-25 — before a crowd that only half-filled the Bernice Hundley.
“This was real success for us,” said Island School head coach Darrick “Deej” Peleras. “This is one of those games where the girls were working together as a team — there was a lot of communicating, and they had good court movement. We appear to have gotten over the flu bug that was hitting us over the past several weeks.”
Facing a 0-6 hole in the opening set, Kapaa got on the scoreboard on a Voyager miscue, and hammered back to within a digit, 8-9, on whacks from Cory Anela Kilar and Talia Washington.
“We have good players,” said Kapaa coach Ari Logan. “But we have always struggled to start strong and not executing on the floor.”
Defensive point exchanges went to the Voyagers as the Warriors were strapped by technical errors, and Island School’s Wailana Marvin made a statement kill for a point to make it 12-8.
The Warriors struggled back and a Chelsea Schneider hit up the middle knotted the contest 12-12, but only briefly, as the Voyagers answered on a pair of hits by Marvin and Ashley “Smashley” Mecham for the 15-12 advantage that could not be answered as the Lady Voyagers closed the door on a Kapaa miscue.
“The errors let the game get away from the girls,” Logan said. “This is not to take away from Island School, who came ready to play. But we need to execute.”
The 12-12 deadlock in the opening set was the turning point for the Warriors, who could not answer during the night, Island School’s Mecham and Sydney Jonas serving up aces in the second set before Kapaa’s Maeha Piturachsatit served up a string of six unanswered points to a 22-23 deficit.
Mecham widened the margin on a solid whack, but Kilar answered on a hit to make it 23-24 before another technical error gave the game to the Voyagers.
During the third set, Kapaa took its first lead of the night when Lani Alo served up a string of unanswered balls for a 10-9 advantage, only to have a Voyager block knot the contest t 10. The Voyagers moved to a 12-10 bulge on a technical error on Kapaa, but the Warriors blocked a ball at the net for a 12-12 deadlock and moved to another advantage on a Lilya Cummings’ go-ahead hit.
Island School’s June Hsu hit the service block for a string of six unanswered points, including an ace, and hits from Mecham and Jaden DeSouza, and another service string from Callie Yavinsky, put away the contest when Marvin ignited cheers from the Island School blue shirts on her game-sealing hit.
Kapaa next hosts Waimea (which was a 3-1 winner against Kauai), Saturday during the Warriors’ final home game of the season. Island School will host Kauai High School at the Wilcox Gymnasium. The junior varsity contests start the evening at both sites from 5 p.m., followed by the varsity contests.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
