KEAAU —- Pahoa outside hitter Tapenga Orevillo got off to a fast start, but then her chances started to dry up. Middle blocker Erleen Oguma said it wasn’t one her better matches because she usually gets more swings.
KEAAU —- Pahoa outside hitter Tapenga Orevillo got off to a fast start, but then her chances started to dry up. Middle blocker Erleen Oguma said it wasn’t one her better matches because she usually gets more swings.
The Daggers won going away, but with Daecee Subia firing one unreturnable serve after another, there were only so many points to go around.
Subia blistered 15 aces Wednesday night and Pahoa swept East-Pac 25-16, 25-5, 15-13 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II volleyball match at Old Mill Fieldhouse.
In any other year, the victory would put the Daggers (2-4) back on solid ground as they try to get back to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament for the second consecutive season. But they face uncertainty, and their season could be in jeopardy as the lava flow advances.
“It’s been all right. People have been moving away, but we’ve been holding up,” Subia said. “We don’t really know yet.
“We’ve basically been going with the flow.”
One of Subia’s primary focuses has been refining a jump-floater serve she first learning while playing club ball with the Piopio Bears.
“It’s gotten tougher. I’ve learned how to control it more and make it more aggressive,” Subia said. “It feels really good when I get into a rhythm.”
She delivered eight aces as Pahoa won 11 consecutive points to break open the second set. East-Pac (2-4) could never adjust to the speed, trajectory and late movement of Subia’s ball in serve-receive.
“A hard floater, back line,” Firebirds coach Tim Waugh said. “A little tougher for the inexperienced girls to go against.”
Oguma posted a match-high 10 kills and Orevillo ripped nine, including six in the first set as Subia fed her on the left side.
Oguma, a co-captain along with Subia, put down three balls as Pahoa won the first seven points of Game 2. East-Pac claimed the next two points, but Subia took the ball after a sideout, and as her serves caromed off East-Pac players, the Daggers’ lead was suddenly 19-2.
“I always have her as my first server,” said Daggers coach Precious Salazar, who has seen Subia improve as a setter. “Daecee is learning how to adjust to her hitters and the passes.”
Senior Maya Secola tacked on four kills.
Division II, which owns three berths to the state tournament, is top-heavy, with only Konawaena (7-0) and Hawaii Prep (6-0) holding winning records.
The Daggers are tied for third with the Firebirds. Pahoa already has played Kamehameha, Hilo, Kealakehe and Konawaena and it’s just now getting into the meat of its D-II schedule. But because of the June 27 lava flow, just how far the Daggers get into it remains to be seen.
“We might not have a team, depending on if they open or close the school,” Salazar said.
Oguma says adversity, whether it be damaging winds from Iselle or the lava, has made Pahoa stronger.
“It’s brought a better bond and it brought us together,” she said.
“But if we have to move schools, I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to play, and that really hurts my feelings.”
Joy Rimel led East-Pac with four kills. The Firebirds’ only club player is Fiona Follet, who is used to playing libero for her club team.
Waugh thinks the senior has college potential at libero, but he’d like Follet to become more assertive in attacking in high school.
“She’s pretty much carrying us, or she’s trying to,” he said. “The rest are soccer players. If we could play with our feet, we’d be the best team in the league.”