Considering his team’s lack of experience, Honokaa girls volleyball coach Mike Fernandez really couldn’t have realistically hoped for a better BIIF volleyball playoff scenario than this.
Considering his team’s lack of experience, Honokaa girls volleyball coach Mike Fernandez really couldn’t have realistically hoped for a better BIIF volleyball playoff scenario than this.
“I think we had a shaky beginning and we slowly picked things up as we were still trying to find the right formula,” Fernandez said. “I told the girls don’t peak too early. We had to peak at the end, and I think that’s what we did.”
For the most part, the Dragons (8-9 White Division) beat who they were supposed to beat this season, while losing to teams they were expected to lose to.
Their best win might have come in their regular-season finale, a 25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 25-20 victory at Ka’u on Friday that secured home-court advantage for Honokaa when the teams meet up again at 6 p.m. Monday in the first round of the Division II playoffs. That victory in Pahala came on the heels of a five-set loss at Christian Liberty on Tuesday.
Seeded fourth after winning a three-team tiebreaker, Honokaa hosts the Trojans (8-9 White), while third-seeded Kohala (12-5 White) welcomes the Canefire (8-9 White) in the other playoff opener at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
“The key is to get fresh in the moment of the game,” Fernandez said.
The winners get two chances to reach the HHSAA tournament, starting with Tuesday’s semifinals. The BIIF owns three state spots – as opposed to four last season, when Honokaa joined Kohala, Hawaii Prep and three-time champion Konawaena – so a third-place game will be held Friday at Waiakea before the championship matches.
Fernandez enjoyed playing in the middle-tier White Division, which gave Honokaa an opportunity to take on each team. The Dragons learned the hard way against club-rich foes such as Hilo, while gaining confidence against some of the BIIF’s smaller schools.
“The experience of playing the tough teams, that kind of helps,” Fernandez said. “We have five seniors, but this is still pretty much a new team.”
One of the team leaders and best hitters is senior middle blocker Esther Benanua.
Unlike the past three seasons, Konawaena (7-9 Red) isn’t the runaway D-II favorite. The second-seeded Wildcats will host either Kohala or Christian Liberty in the semifinals, while top-seeded Hawaii Prep (8-8 Red) takes on the Honokaa-Ka’u winner.
“I expected HPA to be strong because of (Madi) Lee,” Fernandez said. “Konawaena, I felt for them because they only have one (Cherilyn) Molina left. I was really impressed by Kohala.”
Ka Makani and the Wildcats split two matches this season, each winning on the other’s court, while the Cowgirls lost to the Wildcats at home in four sets and then beat HPA at home in five.
In the Division I semifinals, the match to watch is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Waiakea as the Warriors (14-2 Red) try to beat Kamehameha (13-3 Red) for a third time this season. The winner likely grabs the BIIF’s second berth at states unless Kealakehe (12-5 White) can pull off a mammoth upset at top-seeded Hilo (15-1 Red) on Tuesday night.