HONOLULU — Waiakea didn’t look like itself and got pushed off the volleyball court by a familiar foe in Kapolei, which strengthened the perception that Oahu powerhouses are too much for BIIF teams.
HONOLULU — Waiakea didn’t look like itself and got pushed off the volleyball court by a familiar foe in Kapolei, which strengthened the perception that Oahu powerhouses are too much for BIIF teams.
Behind a well-rounded game, the Hurricanes, who took healthy swings all night long, defeated the Warriors 25-17, 25-10, 20-25, 25-13 in the HHSAA Division I quarterfinals on Thursday at McKinley High’s gym on Oahu.
Last season, Anela Pakaki-Pias slammed 23 kills and hit .354 in Kapolei’s five-set first round elimination win against Waiakea, then the BIIF runner-up, at the Warriors Gym.
A year later, the Warriors still couldn’t stop Pakaki-Pias or her teammates.
At least as the BIIF champion, the Warriors play a consolation match at 5 p.m. Friday at Moanalua High’s gym.
In Division II, Hawaii Baptist Academy swept No. 3 seed Konawaena 25-22, 27-25, 25-21 in the quarterfinals at Kaimuki High’s gym.
Cherilyn Molina and McKayla Ventura had eight kills each, and Anaselita added seven kills for the four-time BIIF champion Wildcats (9-10).
In consolation matches, Pearl City eliminated Kohala 25-19, 25-18 while Hana ousted Hawaii Prep 25-15, 28-26.
Shania Fuentes led the Cowgirls (13-8) with six kills, and Anaiyah-Lee Tabiolo had seven digs. Madi Lee led the BIIF runner-up Ka Makani (9-11) with six kills and Julia Perry tallied 17 digs.
Kapolei (13-1) is the OIA runner-up, and its top four players are all seniors: middle blockers Michelyn Pililaau (17 kills) and Alexis Mareko (10 kills), and outside hitters Amryl Paris (13 kills) and Pakaki-Pias (eight kills).
Waiakea (16-3) also has a senior core four: hitter Kayla Kahauolopua (12 kills), libero Jordyn Hayashi (10 digs) and middles Jazz Alston (six kills) and Melina Devela (six kills).
After the Warriors found themselves in an 0-2 hole, there was no miracle comeback like the five-set stunner against Hilo for the BIIF championship.
In fact, Waiakea’s problems started before the match.
“I didn’t recognize our team. I’m so stunned,” Waiakea coach Ashley Hanohano said. “We work harder and play harder than this.
“A lot of the girls were nervous before the game. We came in early, and they saw the (OC16 TV) cameras, and they were so nervous.”
The Hurricanes had much better ball-control and often ran their full menu on offense. It’s a testament to their on-the-money passing when a middle (Pililaau) leads the team in kills. They also held a lopsided advantage in kills, 55-28.
One of Waiakea’s season-long shortcomings was little firepower after Kahauolopua rotates out of the front row. Cary Catrett had one kill. No other outside hitter had a kill, which makes the idiom “playing with one hand tied behind your back” quite applicable.
Both teams had six aces, but the Warriors had just four service errors while the Hurricanes had 14 service miscues. It was a risk-reward thing for Kapolei, which ripped serves to get Waiakea out of system but gave away a ton of free points.
Overall, the gamble worked because Kahauolopua couldn’t get into a rhythm, and she had little help. Her sister Cadelyn Kahauolopua didn’t play because of a back injury, so Waiakea was fighting an uphill battle from the start.
Basically, Kapolei didn’t have to think about blocking the right post or worry much when Kayla Kahauolopua was in the back row. As such, the Hurricanes outblocked the Warriors, 9-2.
In Game 2, Kahauolopua was about to punch a ball over, but a teammate bumped into her, and the play resulted in a hitting error. That miscommunication mental mistake gave Kapolei a 12-5 cushion and set the slide for Waiakea to fall into an 0-2 set deficit.
“Even in that third set, we didn’t dominate,” Hanohano said.
Actually, Kapolei did the Warriors a solid with 15 giveaway points.
In Game 4, the Hurricanes jumped on a six-point scoring run to take a 23-12 cushion. And Paris closed the match with a rocket shot off an overpass, symbolic of Waiakea’s passing struggles among other things.
“The first thing I told the team in the huddle is the Oahu teams won’t take the BIIF teams seriously if we come up here and don’t show up,” Hanohano said. “I would be fine if we lost, and it was up and up.”