LIHU‘E — The 2013 volleyball season opened up Tuesday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym with the Red Raiders playing host to the Waimea High School Menehune. Kaua‘i seemed to be on its way to an easy win, however,
LIHU‘E — The 2013 volleyball season opened up Tuesday night at the Kaua‘i High School gym with the Red Raiders playing host to the Waimea High School Menehune. Kaua‘i seemed to be on its way to an easy win, however, the Menehune fought back only to fall short in five sets. The Red Raiders won 25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25 and 15-10.
Kaua‘i started strong, mostly due to its strong presence at the net. Both Mikal Moranz and Archie Vallatini played pivotal roles for the Red Raiders throughout the match.
Moranz was essentially unblockable for Kaua‘i, coupled with Vallatini’s consistency and ability to play both on the outside and inside gave Kaua‘i a balanced attack that was tough to beat.
The Menehune were not deterred by the larger Red Raiders. Despite falling behind 2-0, Waimea was able to methodically come back, and with the help of some sloppy Kaua‘i play, evened the match up at 2-2.
Waimea was led by senior Harry Waahila, who played a stellar game, and Mark Kanahele, who was the Menehune’s biggest hitter on the outside.
The fifth and final set began with the two teams trading blows as it got out to a 4-4 tie early on. An unforced error and a pair of kills from Tyler Fernandez and Vallatini got the Red Raiders out to an 8-4 lead.
With Kaua‘i’s lead at 14-9, Kanahele earned a kill to bring the Menehune within four points. Moranz would come through again for Kaua‘i, but this time it wasn’t the power game. Moranz was able to get a tip at the net that would fall in for the Red Raider point and the match.
In junior varsity action, Kaua‘i won 2-1 taking the first set 25-18, before dropping the second to Waimea 25-22 and finishing it up with a 25-19 win.
Kaua‘i improves to 1-0 on the season and will play Kapa‘a in Kapa‘a on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Waimea will be on the road again at Island School to take on the Voyagers.
Over in Kapa‘a, the Warriors hosted the Island School Voyagers and Kapa‘a walked away with an easy 25-19, 25-15, 25-13 win in straight sets. In junior varsity action, Kapa‘a won 2-1 taking the first two sets 25-11 and 25-18 before dropping the third 25-23 to the Voyagers.
