Waimea wahine volleyball undefeated to end round 1

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Kaua‘i High middle Aubrey Bechard anticipates the bump set from Keira Caoagas in the fifth set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Island School’s Brittany Valentino hits against the blocking effort of Kaua‘i High’s Aubrey Bechard and Edyn Naka‘ahiki in the second set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Kaua‘i’s Edyn Naka‘ahiki hits past the blocking efforts of Island School’s Mary Magoun and Nohea Judd in the second set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Tower official Merrill Carvalho watches as Island School’s Brooklyn Valentino goes up to block against Kaua‘i High’s hit by Edyn Naka‘ahiki in the second set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Island School’s Brittany Valentino and Juliana De Souza go to block the hit from Kaua‘i High’s Mikayla Alonzo, who took the short set from Keira Caoagas, in the first set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Kaua‘i High’s Edyn Naka‘ahiki and Aubrey Bechard go up to block against Island School’s Brooklyn Valentino’s hit in the first set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Kaua‘i High libero Jaclyn Oshiro follows the play action as Elise Yukimura follows her hit against the blocking effort of Island School’s Liliana De Souza and Brooklyn Mackey in the first set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Kaua‘i High libero Jaclyn Oshiro and Coach Shy Sadora watch as Elise Yukimura battles at the net with Island School’s Liliana De Souza and Brooklyn Mackey in the first set Friday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation girls volleyball games at the Kaua‘i High gym in Lihu‘e.

LIHU‘E — Waimea High girls volleyball improved to 6-0, and Kaua‘i High girls took a 3-2 edge over the Island School Voyagers Friday night to end the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation first round at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea and the Kaua‘i High gym, respectively.

Playing before a full house of homecoming revelers, the Red Raider junior varsity dropped all three of its sets to the visiting JV Voyagers, 25-21, 25-23 and 25-23, giving the homecoming fans a lot to cheer about as the JV Raiders came close but could not close the door.

Over at the Clem Gomes Gym, the visiting JV Kapa‘a Warriors took two of the three sets, 25-8, 20-25 and 25-18 in hopes the momentum would carry over to the varsity squad. But that did not carry the Lady Warriors, who dropped in four sets against the Lady Menehune that took the floor with several of its starters on the bench.

Waimea took the first set 25-19 before Kapa‘a responded with a 25-19 answer. Waimea came back on a marathon 30-28 reply, and closed the door in the fourth set with a 25-20 win.

Over at the Kaua‘i High gym, the varsity Raiders, spurred on by the cheering during the JV contest, broke away from an 8-8 stalemate against Island School, and stayed ahead 25-20. Island School answered by taking the next two sets, 25-23 and 25-21, before Kaua‘i forced the fifth set with a 25-20 edge in the fourth set.

In the fifth set, Kaua‘i broke away from a 6-6 deadlock and held off the Island School threat for the 15-10 final.

Trailing two sets to one, the Raiders were on the floor down 0-6 in the fourth set before a Voyager service error lit up the Raiders’ side of the scoreboard. Kaua‘i’s Keira Caoagas served up an ace, and still the Raiders were chasing three points, 4-7. The Voyagers widened the gap to five points on a Brooklyn Mackey whack, 10-6, before Kaua‘i’s Mikayla Alonzo pounded one and Elise Yukimura ignited the crowd with a hammer that deadlocked the set, 11-11.

Following error exchanges, Caoagas found another ace to pull the Raiders up, 14-12. The force for the fifth set was hammered home by Yukimura.

KIF second-round girls volleyball starts Tuesday when Kaua‘i High travels to the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a and Island School makes the trek to the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea. The JV games at both sites serve up at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity contests serving up 25 minutes following the end of the JV games.

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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.

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