The Waiakea HS and Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i girls volleyball teams faced off Wednesday night in the first BIIF match of the season.
A large and excited crowd of spectators converged upon WHS to see the DI outing.
KSH swept Waiakea, winning straight sets of 25-18, 25-12, and 25-14.
“I thought it went pretty darn good for us, especially with just three days of practice under our belts,” KSH head coach Guy Enriques said. “A lot of new kids and new faces. If this is just three days after practice, I’m excited too see where we are after a few weeks.”
Despite the loss, there were also plenty of bright spots on Waiakea’s side.
“I thought it was a good game, we definitely fought hard,” Waiakea head coach Laura Thompson said. “We’re a young team, so we’re trying to figure out our chemistry. It showed us a lot of things we need to work on, like ball control. I feel like our playing didn’t get represented in the score. They fought hard, we just need to clean up a few things.”
Enriques also praised Waiakea’s efforts on the court.
“(Waiakea’s players) have a lot of potential,” he said “I expect they’ll get better, and Laura is a good coach. The better our opponents are, the better we have to be. That was their first night at it too, so I suspect everybody was nervous.”
Maela Honma led KSH’s offense with 16 kills and four aces, and also contributed on defense with 12 digs. Shay Beals was also well-rounded with 11 kills and an ace, leading the Warriors’ defense with 14 digs.
Libero Kealohi Dudoit recorded 13 digs and two aces. The Warriors combined for a total ten aces throughout the outing.
On the WHS side, Sadie Calma and Toryn Ono stood out, but it was a team effort overall.
“She attacked in the front and blocked balls, then also set from the back,” Thompson said. “It’s kind of hard, because everyone did their job. Our outside hitter Toryn Ono did great. Also our two middle blockers — one is actually a freshman, one is a sophomore — Pua (Herrington) and Kaydence (Galindo).
“I feel like our defense is pretty strong — my libero Lexie Uchima, Klaresa (Sivas) is our other DS (defensive specialist) — they were picking up a lot of balls. I think overall everyone did a good job, I wouldn’t say specifically anyone did better.”
Looking forward
KSH graduated many of the stars from its 2022 HHSAA DI state runner-up team, but has retained others — such as Honma, who was a 2022 All-Hawaii First Team selection.
“She’s been in the program four years as a varsity player and has grown every single year with us,” Enriquez said. “This is her year. She was voted the No. 6 player in the state last year. She’s shown, in the first few days, that she’s even better than she was last year. I’m excited about her.”
Many of the team’s current members are new to varsity, but Eriques is hopeful about their potential.
“We might be able to surprise a lot of people,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of people expect much of us this year.”
On the other hand, Waiakea’s roster is mostly comprised of returners.
“We’re excited,” Thompson said. “We got a little bit stronger, and we’ve got some experienced girls. We’ve got definitely a bit more height this year, which is always a bonus. The girls are really motivated to get back there. We had a good talk (after the game) that even though the score wasn’t the greatest, we feel good for our first match. They’re already asking for more drills to work on things and be specific on how we can get better.”
The Warriors and other BIIF DI teams will play 10-12 regular season matches this season, less than last year — but unlike last season, they will all be against opponents from their division. BIIF DI and DII teams are not scheduled to play each other outside of invitational tournaments.
This will have benefits for schools in both BIIF divisions. Smaller DII teams wont have to waste their time getting routed by larger schools and DI teams will get to consistently go up against level competition.
“I love the new schedule where we’re playing against the DI teams,” Enriques said. “It makes for more competitive night-to-night play.”
The drawbacks are that higher-caliber DII teams won’t get reps against DI teams, and vice versa — and that teams wont get to play against neighbors and rivals that they previously enjoyed facing.
“We were kinda bummed, because we did enjoy playing other schools,” Thompson said. “Last year we had good matches against (Hawaii Prep) and (Konawaena), which were DII — as well as some other schools. I think it will give us more opportunities against the team’s we’re gonna see in playoffs, so we can really work on things. Instead of playing them one time, we’re gonna play them three times.
Up next
KSH will hit the road for a morning match tomorrow at Kealakehe HS. JV starts at 10 a.m. with varsity to follow.
Waiakea will have some down time. Its next match will be 5 p.m. (JV plays first, varsity follows) Tuesday at Kea‘au HS.