LIHU‘E — With just one more series of games remaining in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball first round, Waimea High, School, without admitting it, wrapped up the first round in straight sets over Kaua‘i High, the first-round title being reinforced when Kapa‘a dropped to Island School in straight sets.
LIHU‘E — With just one more series of games remaining in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball first round, Waimea High, School, without admitting it, wrapped up the first round in straight sets over Kaua‘i High, the first-round title being reinforced when Kapa‘a dropped to Island School in straight sets.
“We’re 5 and 0,” said Waimea coach Ginny Hori as she watched the junior varsity Menehune wrap up its straight-set win over Kaua‘i High Tuesday night at the Kaua‘i High gym. “And the girls know it.”
Waimea finished the night sweeping Kaua‘i High, the JV team taking victories of 25-22, 25-15 and holding off a strong JV Red Raider rally, 26-24.
The varsity Menehune preserved its no-loss record in straight sets over Kaua‘i High, 25-18, 25-12 and 25-17, before a good-sized audience that included the Red Raider cheer squad headlining the court stage-side.
Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium on the Island School campus in Puhi, the Lady Warriors split their series with the Voyagers, the JV Warriors taking wins of 25-3, 25-22 and 25-9. The varsity Warriors could not maintain the momentum, dropping in straight sets, 28-30, 9-25 and 20-25.
Waimea stayed ahead of Kaua‘i High for the entire first set, with libero Haley Zina and Meiya Ramons coming up with lengthy productive tenures in the service block. Ahead 10-7, Zina widened the gap to 14-7 during her serves that included a whack from Kalia Yaris combining with Red Raider court errors. Up 18-15, Ramos served up a string that took Waimea to 23-16 before a Kaua‘i hitting error closed the door.
During the second set, Safina Sandblom pulled Waimea to a 12-6 lead in the service box, getting help on a hit by Ramos and a nice block in the middle. Ramos marked an ace, and Kaulana Hui Hui Caberto whacked one in Ramos’ service line that moved Waimea to 21-12 before Zina served up the remaining three marks that Yaris closed the door on.
KIF girls volleyball’s first round closes Friday when Kapa‘a makes the trek to the Clem Gomes Gym to face the Waimea Menehune and the Voyagers travel to Kaua‘i High against the Red Raider wahine. The JV games serve up starting at 5:30 p.m. at both sites, with the varsity contests starting 25 minutes following the completion of the JV games.
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
