The Waimea High School volleyball team will head into the New City Nissan Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II volleyball state championships on Oahu on Oct. 23-26 with the proper momentum they need.
Momentum is a necessary element in sports — especially in volleyball — and the Menehune finished the season undefeated against a talent-rich pool of competitive KIF teams.
Just talking to Menehune coach Brandi Hori-Moises, you get the sense they are on a mission that is bigger than the volleyball season.
Though Hori-Moises hasn’t gone into details about the adversity this team has overcome on and off the volleyball court, you get the sense they’ve gained a lot of strength because of it.
Historically in sports, teams that have overcome adversity develop a strong bond necessary to cultivate the chemistry to be a championship team, and Waimea has that kind of mentality.
With that being said, there is a lot of volleyball and athletic talent on the other islands. The Menehune will get an opportunity to see some of the best volleyball talent in the state, so throughout the tournament they will have to overcome challenges in their quest for a championship.
One key inspirational figure to the Menehune High School volleyball team is their junior varsity player Shyann Freitas, who suffered an ATV accident which resulted in the amputation of her right foot.
When talking to Menehune players, you get the sense that Freitas’s adversity has offered them prospective and character beyond their years of playing.
There were the bomb threats at Waimea High School, just an extra distraction, and still, the Menehune volleyball team carried on, stuck to business, and just kept winning.
As the state playoffs approach, Waimea High School will again be tested playing off-island volleyball teams, who will all be good teams from here on out. But the strength and character this team has built through their experiences will undoubtedly help it overcome momentum surges from the best volleyball teams the state has to offer.
There might be situations where Waimea may even be the team not favored to win, but you can never count out a team playing for more than themselves.
When watching this team, their goal is clear: represent Kauai well. Win, lose or draw, the Menehune have already achieved this, and the amount of character and motivation this team possesses makes it a team that can beat anyone at state.
The Menehune might do just that.
