As the two-time defending HHSAA state champion, Konawaena is favored to beat everybody, especially its opponents on the Big Island. ADVERTISING As the two-time defending HHSAA state champion, Konawaena is favored to beat everybody, especially its opponents on the Big
As the two-time defending HHSAA state champion, Konawaena is favored to beat everybody, especially its opponents on the Big Island.
Even when the unbeaten Wildcats struggle just a tiny bit, they still find a way to win, and it helps to have someone like Chanelle Molina, who neutralizes mistakes with her hitting prowess.
Kona fought off a rough start to sweep Hawaii Prep 25-18, 25-15, 25-13 in the BIIF Division II championship on Saturday at Hilo High’s Gym, claiming its second straight league title.
The Wildcats (19-0) likely wrapped up the top seed to the HHSAA tournament, which will be held Wednesday through Saturday on Oahu. The seedings will be released on Sunday.
It’s the fifth consecutive trip to states for Konawaena and the 10th straight for HPA (9-10).
The Wildcats beat Maui’s Seabury Hall in five sets for the state title last year, and Ka Makani in four sets in 2013 for the school’s first championship.
Molina hammered a match-high 12 kills, McKenna Ventura 11, and Ihi Victor added five kills for Konawaena, which had far more kills than HPA, 36-13.
Kaui Taylor slammed six kills while Madi Lee and Laurie McGrath each had three kills for HPA, which stuck around because of Kona’s unforced errors. The Wildcats had more giveaway points, 31-25.
But most of those free points came in the first set.
In the opening game, the Wildcats struggled with their ball-control. They had 12 unforced errors, including nine hitting miscues. However, Molina helped erase some of those giveaway points with six kills.
In fact, HPA didn’t earn its first point until Taylor smashed a kill to slice Kona’s lead to 11-7. Ka Makani made eight unforced errors.
Konawaena coach Ainsley Keawekane made a nod to history and started last year’s state championship lineup, including Alissa Nahale-Blanco, who came off the bench this year. Like her team, she started slow, but caught fire in the second set.
“We were not in a flow and couldn’t find our rhythm in the first set,” Keawekane said. “But our team leaders, Chanelle, Celena Molina and McKenna said, ‘Coach, we got it.’ Then we started making plays.”
The Wildcats played cleaner ball in the second set, and while Molina had just one kill Ventura and Nahale-Blanco stepped up, and each pounded four kills.
In the third set, it was the Molina and Ventura tag-team combo. Each Wildcat senior smashed five kills. And fittingly, Molina served two consecutive aces to wrap up Konawaena’s second consecutive BIIF title.
After all of his team’s success through the years, Keawekane was finally able to take it easy, at least for him.
“I was a little more relaxed,” he said. “I knew our girls just had to perform when we showed up. We had some first-game jitters, but then it was all good.”
