Konawaena’s poise shines brightest on the volleyball court when everything needs to be earned, especially against an opponent that simply won’t go away.
Konawaena’s poise shines brightest on the volleyball court when everything needs to be earned, especially against an opponent that simply won’t go away.
Hilo offered up a good fight, but the Wildcats have someone special in Chanelle Molina and the return of teammate McKenna Ventura from an ankle injury proved to be the difference.
Molina ripped 22 kills and Ventura provided stability at setter and middle blocker as the Wildcats beat the Vikings 25-22, 13-25, 32-30, 25-21 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation thriller Tuesday night at Hilo Armory.
Celena Molina, a setter/right-side hitter, added 10 kills while Ventura had eight, and Ihi Victor and Alissa Nahale-Blanco each had seven kills for the Division II Wildcats (12-0).
Kyra Kaloi brought her hammer and slammed 17 kills while Keola Katayama added 13 kills and Taylor Alicuben had eight kills for the Division I Vikings (10-2).
The Wildcats struggled with their ball-control — from serve-receive to digging and defending attacks, and passing the ball. They had 48 unforced errors (hitting, serving and ball-handling).
The Vikings played cleaner ball and had only 35 giveaway points. Junior libero Nalani Thomas was a big-time defensive playmaker, smothering the court and picking up more than a dozen digs.
Each team finished with eight blocks; Konawaena’s Taiana Tolleson, the soccer team’s goalie, was a major player in the roofing department.
Outside of Konawaena’s ability to play the big points like it’s an old habit (the Wildcats are the defending Division II state champs), the biggest difference was firepower.
When the Wildcats absolutely need a momentum swing and a big point, everyone in the gym knows the ball is going to Chanelle Molina, who smashed 10 kills in the epic Game 3.
That set was one of the best and longest in the history of BIIF play at Hilo Armory. Kaloi was a monster with eight kills and smoked shots from her left hitting post.
Down 24-20, Hilo got a point on a Konawaena service error. Then Kaloi drilled back-to-back kills. A Wildcat hitting error tied it 24-24.
Kaloi continued her hitting rampage, and tied it at 26-26 and got kills for leads at 27-26 and 28-27.
Then Katayama and Chanelle Molina traded kills. Both slammed two each, with Molina’s last putting Konawaena ahead 31-30. Tolleson is a good 5 feet, 10 inches tall and used her height to stuff game point.
In that entertaining third set, Konawaena survived and managed to work its way around 13 unforced errors; Hilo had only five but still lost that game.
The match also marked the return of Ventura, an All-BIIF second team middle blocker last season, who was out for a month with a foot injury.
While the showdown was entertaining, the one Wednesday night between Kealakehe and Waiakea will be more meaningful.
After Wednesday, the Warriors (8-3) have games left against Hilo on Monday and Honokaa on Oct. 15. Both are at home.
The Waveriders (9-3) have only one game left against Keaau on Oct. 18 at home.
If both finish with the same record, the head-to-head winner would hold the tiebreaker and likely grab the No. 3 seed in the four-team BIIF Division I playoffs.