Hawaii Preparatory Academy and St. Joseph High School’s boys volleyball teams faced off Tuesday night at the Hilo Armory, which ended with Ka Makani winning 3-0.
Though the sweep may not indicate it, St. Joseph was no pushover and put up a notable fight.
“(St. Joseph) was very scrappy,” said Hawaii Prep head coach Daena Craven. “They kept us on our toes and took us off balance for a while, but we came back, and I’m really happy about that.”
The first set saw HPA dominate while the Cardinals struggled to rally.
Hawaii Prep senior outside hitter Sam Landers recorded a monstrous set, notching five kills and an ace.
HPA junior Nino Pelzmann also noted two aces, and sophomore Kena Craven had two kills.
Ka Makani ended the set with a 25-8 victory, but St. Joseph was not without its highlights — with freshmen Dustin Petras and Koen De La Cruz each recording kills.
Junior Noe Perren of HPA started the second set with three consecutive aces, but the Cardinals quickly bounced back and proved that they were tough competitors.
St. Joseph hung in rallies and capitalized on Ka Makani’s errors, eventually evening the score 10-10.
Boosted by a big block by Petras, the Cardinals took the lead 12-11.
The set swung back and forth for its remainder as long rallies ended with errors on each side.
Eventually, HPA reestablished a lead and closed set two victorious 25-19.
St. Joseph began the third set competitively, taking a 5-2 lead.
However, Ka Makani caught up and then went on a long scoring run.
Landers once again proved to be a force on the court, with two kills on the set and two aces in a row.
“(Landers) did great,” Craven said, “he’s a leader on the team, he’s four-year varsity letter winner, he’s amazing. He’s patient, he coaches while he’s out there, and I’m proud of him.”
HPA led by 13 points at set point, but the Cardinals hung in through several rallies before falling 25-15.
Ka Makani, now 3-1, will travel Friday to Kohala for its next match.
St. Joseph will have two weeks of down time before playing a road double-header March 25 at Waimea District Park against Parker and Kanu.