No surprise against another tough team in Hilo, Hawaii Prep had to work extra hard to get its first win, a five-set marathon thriller fueled by the excellent hitting work of Jevin Ching.
No surprise against another tough team in Hilo, Hawaii Prep had to work extra hard to get its first win, a five-set marathon thriller fueled by the excellent hitting work of Jevin Ching.
The 6-foot-3 junior outside hitter hit smart, found holes and finished with 29 kills to lift HPA over the Vikings 16-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 15-7 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation volleyball match Wednesday at Hilo Armory.
Division II Ka Makani (1-2) earlier lost in four games to Waiakea and five games to Kohala, the defending BIIF Division I and II champions, respectively.
Tyler Van Kirk, another tall presence at 6-3, added 14 kills.
No one else landed in double-digit kills for last season’s Divison II runner-up. However, it wasn’t offense that made the biggest difference in the fifth set. It was the setting by junior Zeke Chong, at 5-6, the shortest member of the team.
After a pair of bad sets led to back-to-back points for Hilo and a 3-2 lead, Chong started to give his hitters clean swings, especially during a closing seven-point run, which ended on an ace off a defender by Keanu Yamamoto.
“It was back and forth and we made it hard on ourselves,” HPA coach Sharon Peterson said. “In that last game, we did more things that enabled us to make it easier on ourselves. We were more in control and focused. When we keep our focus and control we play well.
“Zeke is a good spunky player. Jevin started slowly, but he smoothed out. He was not only hitting and finding spots on the floor, but he hit off the block as well.”
Ching got only three kills in the first game. But he was just getting warmed up. He followed with nine kills in the second and third game, six in the fourth and had two in the fifth.
The Tandal brothers — senior Makana and junior Makoa — blasted 17 kills each, and Kennison Rowe had 15 to lead Division I Hilo (1-1), which was far more efficient with 26 unforced (hitting or serving) errors. HPA had 38 giveaway points.
However, the Vikings made a couple of crucial miscues in the final set, especially down the stretch.
They had a hitting error that gave HPA an 11-7 lead, and a wayward bump-over for another hitting error that increased the cushion to 14-7.
Ching changed the direction of the match in the fourth set.
Hilo inch-wormed ahead 9-8 on a kill by Makoa.
Then HPA’s hot hitter got the serve back, and Van Kirk reeled off six straight points from the service line.