Red Raiders win in straight sets over Menehune

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kauai’s Miles Davis hits against the defense of Waimea’s Arnie Fernandez and Jonah Sandal in the third set, Tuesday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation volleyball games at the Clem Gomes Gym.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Waimea’s Bryson Kapahu hits against the defense by Kauai’s Roed Pagatpatan and Raiden Pagatpatan in the third set, Tuesday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation volleyball games at the Clem Gomes Gym.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kauai’s Kaimani Tecson hits against the defense of Waimea’s Keahi Mattos and Ky Niccore in the third set, Tuesday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation volleyball games at the Clem Gomes Gym.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Kauai’s Raiden Pagatpatan and Kaimani Tecson rise up the middle to defend on a shot by Waimea’s Keahi Mattos in the third set, Tuesday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation volleyball games at the Clem Gomes Gym.

Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Waimea’s Ryan Emayo-Schmitt threads the ball between the defensive efforts of Kauai’s Keane Tibon and Kaimani Tecson and the out-of-bounds line in the third set, Tuesday night during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation volleyball games at the Clem Gomes Gym.

WAIMEA Kauai High School boys volleyball celebrated a sweep in Kauai Interscholastic Federation action Tuesday night.

WAIMEA — Kauai High School boys volleyball celebrated a sweep in Kauai Interscholastic Federation action Tuesday night.

Following a competitive 25-23 opening round against the Waimea High School team, Kauai volleyball players breezed through a 25-13 second set before holding off the Menehune challenge on a 25-19 win to complete the sweep.

“Following the first five-set meeting, we needed to make changes,” said Kauai coach Enoch A‘ana. “We worked on that during practices, focusing on passing better, and telling the boys to keep the ball in play during service.”

Kauai battled back from an early 3-0 run in the third set, set up by a block and a whack from Arnie Fernandez.

A hammer from Kauai’s Joshua Garcia knotted the match, 4-4. Waimea’s Ryan Emayo-Schmitt pounded back, and a hit from Miles Davis knotted the contest 5-5.

The seesaw continued until Kauai pulled ahead from a 14-14 deadlock, capitalizing off a Menehune hitting error, and moving to a 19-15 lead on a pair of Menehune net violations and a strong Rence Soriano block.

Davis set up the finale on a solid hit that was answered by Waimea’s Bryson Kapahu blocking a Raider bang before a block from Raiden Pagatpatan sealed the deal.

“We cleaned up quite a bit,” A‘ana said. “We finished with just four service errors spread out over three sets, compared with the 14 we committed in the first five-set meeting. We keep stressing, they need to get the ball over in play. We also got better blocking — blocking and defense. We have to stay strong.”

Kauai next hosts Kapaa on Tuesday at the Kauai High School gym when the first serve in the JV match goes off starting at 5 p.m. Waimea will host Island School in a single match starting at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s back to the gym,” A‘ana said. “Hopefully, we can build on what we learned and have a better game.”

Earlier in the night, the Red Raider junior varsity collected a 3-0 win — 25-15, 25-11, 25-9 — over the efforts of the Waimea JV team.

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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.

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