KEALAKEKUA — That monkey on Konawaena’s back was no match against the firepower from Chanelle Molina and company, a combination that fired volleyball rockets all night. ADVERTISING KEALAKEKUA — That monkey on Konawaena’s back was no match against the firepower
KEALAKEKUA — That monkey on Konawaena’s back was no match against the firepower from Chanelle Molina and company, a combination that fired volleyball rockets all night.
The Wildcats have been the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II runner-up the last three years, falling to Hawaii Prep in 2011, Ka‘u in ‘13 and HPA again last season.
Kona finally shed the label of the league’s second best — something of a misnomer because the West Hawaii powerhouse captured the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state title last year.
The Wildcats blitzed the resilient Ka Makani 25-20, 25-15, 25-17 for the BIIF Division II championship on Saturday at Kona’s Ellison Onizuka gym, winning their first league title since 1998.
Kona and HPA have a shared history that also extends to states. Last year, the two met in the Division II state championship and the Wildcats won in four sets.
Konawaena earned a seeded berth to states, which will be held Nov. 5-8 in Honolulu. Ka Makani and Honokaa will join the Wildcats.
Kona coach Ainsley Keawekane has always considered the volleyball court his classroom, and judging from his team’s performance Saturday everyone got straight A’s. The ball-control (passing, serving, setting) was spectacular, a reason the ‘Cats had more kills than HPA, 40-15.
Molina led the offensive onslaught with 14 kills, McKenna Ventura and Alissa Nahale-Blanco added seven each, Celena Molina had six and Taiana Tolleson had four kills for Kona (15-0).
Gabbie Ewing had nine kills while Anna Juan and Haley Dow had two each, and Alaina Bradley and Ula Brostek got one kill each for HPA (10-5).
In the first set, Kona had more unforced errors, 12-8, but Chanelle Molina ripped seven kills to neutralize Ewing’s five kills; only two other Ka Makani players (Ula Brostek and Anna Juan) had kills, with one each.
Four other Wildcats picked up eight kills. That’s a tough combination to beat: more firepower, 15-7 in kills, and balance.
In what’s likely a BIIF championship record, the first 10 points in the second set were all unforced errors. Ventura’s kill gave Kona a 7-4 lead to stop the error avalanche.
HPA had more unforced errors in Game 2 and all of them were costly, 14-11. Kona’s defense focused on Ewing, and held her to two kills; Chanelle Molina had three kills.
Maybe the only negative for the Wildcats was that they had more unforced errors, 35-19. HPA’s hitting, by nature, was more conservative. Not a lot of teams have Kona’s firepower and balance, a powerful trademark combination that led to the BIIF title.
