HONOLULU — The best way to describe coach Sharon Peterson’s Hawaii Prep team is that all her players are a volleyball version of Rocky Balboa — they can take two punches, give one back, and at the end remain standing.
HONOLULU — The best way to describe coach Sharon Peterson’s Hawaii Prep team is that all her players are a volleyball version of Rocky Balboa — they can take two punches, give one back, and at the end remain standing.
Sometimes a part of the three-prong offense (pass, set, attack) goes missing. Or referee calls turn quite lopsided. Or momentum swings and freebie points get hand-delivered to the opposition.
In any case, HPA’s resiliency usually shows up and it’s always good to have Gabbie Ewing, who posted a double-double with an identical 26 kills and digs to lead a thrilling roller-coaster win over Radford on Wednesday night.
The relentless Ka Makani outlasted the Rams 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 16-14 in the first round at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state championships at Kaimuki High’s gym.
HPA (11-5) relies so much on Ewing, who took 69 of her team’s 148 swings and her kills accounted for 55 percent of the offense. The Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up had more kills than the Rams, 47-37.
Ka Makani play No. 3 seed Hawaii Baptist (11-2), the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, at 7 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals at Kaimuki.
Ewing, a 5-foot-8 senior outside hitter, had 20 hitting errors and finished with a .087 hitting clip; HPA’s hitting percentage was .095 to Radford’s .000.
From a statistical standpoint, it’s always better to be ahead or at least even. Ewing was — in kills and hitting errors (26 to 20), and aces and service errors (1-1).
That was one reason Peterson’s Ka Makani won, another was her team’s ability to take it on the chin, get knocked down, and charge back into the fight.
A good example was Game 3, Ka Makani ahead 24-18. Then Radford scored four consecutive points on HPA unforced errors, including three on double-contact. It was suddenly 24-22 and the momentum had switched sides.
Holding its breath, HPA returned a serve on a clean play. Then to the delight of the faithful Ka Makani fans, Radford was called for double-contact for the last point in the third set. The Big Islanders were tagged with five double-contact calls; the Rams were charged with one.
The fourth set is a better Rocky Balboa story.
HPA led 20-16 and the bus was getting warmed up. But what’s persistence without more self-induced thorns to step on?
Radford scored seven straight points, including five on unforced errors, to take a 23-20 lead. Then the Rams notched the final two points on hitting errors to force a final set.
Ula Brostek added seven kills and five aces, all valuable points, but freshman Madi Lee’s serving in the final set gave HPA a big-time momentum boost.
Was Lee nervous? No, not really, she said. All she had to do was look at Peterson on the bench. A tornado could be swirling inside the coach’s stomach, but she projects a calm demeanor — back straight, eyes forward, emotions held in check.
“It was a little stressful. But I stayed as calm as I could,” Lee said. “It makes me feel happy when I look at her. I blocked out all thoughts and stayed calm. You don’t have to serve super hard or anything crazy. You just have to get it in and let them make mistakes.”
Lee served five straight points to give HPA a 6-2 lead, which later evaporated. The match was tied 9-9 and 13-13, and from there the fun began.
A Ka Makani hitting error pushed the Rams ahead 14-13. Then on Ewing’s third attack attempt, she put the ball down to tie it 14-14. Lee was back on the service line, and she later passed a clean ball to Elizabeth Jim, who set Alaina Bradley and she slammed a kill down for a 15-14 lead.
Then Lee fed Radford another tough serve, HPA worked another set to Ewing and the Rams couldn’t handle the return. Ewing got her 26th kill and identical number double-double.
Radford (5-8), the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s No. 3 team, was led by Noel Phillip’s 12 kills and 6-2 Chloe Snyder’s 11 kills.
It’s HPA’s ninth consecutive appearance at states with the best finish being last year’s loss to Konawaena in the championship in four sets, but on Wednesday night that might be top of the charts when talking Rocky Balboa perseverance.
“They responded, and didn’t get rattled and that was good,” Peterson said. “In that fifth game, they handled the pressure and that’s what I’m most proud of. Except for Gabbie, the team is very inexperienced. It was thrill to win a match here.”
So the nervous bug bit Peterson, too? She projects NBA coaching legend Phil Jackson’s Zen serenity, but she’s not a robot. Peterson acknowledged there’s always room for self-improvement, even from herself.
“You didn’t hear me yelling?” she joked. “The girls always take a glance and look at me, so I have to learn from that and get better.”