KAPAA — With a game remaining on Friday, and an undefeated record behind them, the Kapaa High School girls volleyball team pretty much clinched the Kauai Interscholastic Federation crown by defeating Kauai High School on Tuesday night in four tightly fought sets.
Over at the Wilcox Gymnasium, Island School celebrated its Senior Night by splitting its series with Waimea High School. Waimea took the junior varsity matches, 2-1 on scores of 19-25, 25-15 and 15-6. The loss to open the night inspired the varsity Voyagers to battle to a four-set 3-1 win over the Menehune, 25-20, 15-25, 25-21 and 30-28.
Kapaa, playing before an overflow audience of hometown fans at the Bernice Hundley Gym, shared the same fate, losing the JV games — 7-25, 18-25 and 15-8 — before taking the Lady Red Raiders in four sets — 25-21, 17-25, 25-21 and 25-20.
Coming from a 2-10 deficit in the opening set, Kauai clawed back behind Zariah Fernandez serving up a string of five points to pull to within three points, 9-12 before a service error killed the drive. Navaeh Smith marked an ace in her four-point service string that pulled Kauai close 14-16 before Kapaa’s Kuuipo Hunt and Carlyn Kamoku surged Kapaa to an 18-15 bulge. The surges continued until Kamoku slammed the door on the 25-21 first set.
Kauai came back and built a 5-1 lead only to have Kapaa answer and knot the second set at 8-8 when Aedyn Umalla marked an ace.
Both squads battled through six ties before Kauai’s Leila Caoagas marked an ace to break away from the 15-15 logjam.
A Raider block put Kauai on top and the Warriors could never catch up until hits from Emily Wyszogrodzki, Smith and Caoagas put the set to bed, 25-23. The Warrior loss marked the first set loss in the season for the undefeated Kapaa team.
After playing catch-up in the third set, Kauai came back and after breaking an 11-11 stalemate in the fourth set on a Kapaa net violation, both teams exchanged point to an 18-18 deadlock before Kapaa surged ahead on a hit by senior Khloe Groove and an ace from Umalla. Mehana Guy served up to 24-19, but couldn’t close the door when a Kapaa hitting error have Kauai Point No. 20.
That was all Hunt needed to send the Aloha Ball.
Kapaa next travels to the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea on Friday, and the Voyagers visit the Kauai High School Senior Night at the new Kauai High School gymnasium. The JV games at both sites serve up at 5 p.m. followed by the varsity games starting 25 minutes after the JV contests.
Source: The Garden Island
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