The BIIF’s best both fell in five sets Thursday at the HHSAA Division II quarterfinals in Honolulu.
The BIIF’s best both fell in five sets Thursday at the HHSAA Division II quarterfinals in Honolulu.
Kauai defeated Hawaii Prep 25-22, 25-12, 13-25, 25-27, 15-10 at Moanalua High, while Kai Enriques’ 41 kills were not enough for Ka’u, which lost 15-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 15-8 to No. 2 and MIL champion Hana at Farrington High.
The BIIF champion Ka Makani, seeded fourth, rallied from a two-set deficit to force a fifth game, but couldn’t pull out a comeback. The KIF champion Red Raiders (11-4) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Game 5, behind two HPA errors, and never looked back.
The BIIF runner-up Trojans (12-4) took a 2-1 lead against the Dragons (12-3), but Ka’u never led in Game 4 and Hana dominated parts of the fifth set.
Kauai hit just .165 as a team, but Kalawaia Judd (16 kills, .375) and Kekoa Tecson Kalani (13 kills, .400) were productive, especially Judd, who knocked down four kills in Game 5.
Tucker Higgins (14 kills, .214), Colin Yates (11 kills, .075) and Ghar Pautz (10 kills, .200) led the way for HPA, which hit .121 and committed five unforced errors to Kauai’s three in the fifth set.
Kauai dominated in two key categories, blocks (13 to 7) and digs (55 to 39). The Garden Isle squad was also better in kills (57 to 45) and aces (6 to 4) and that made it a sweep around the bases in vital stats.
Enriques took 100 swings for Ka’u, hit .240 and posted 25 digs. Brian Gascon added 15 kills for the Trojans, who won the hitting battle (58-44, .170-.146). But in the end, they couldn’t overcome 15 service errors nor the balanced attack of Noah Hoopai Feliciano (15 kills), Jordan Redo-Rost (14) and Chasen Kanakaole (10).
Hana used a pair of 4-0 runs to take a 10-5 lead in the decisive set. After Enriques carried the load for almost the entire match, Gascon was the Trojans’ most effective hitter late in Game 5, coming up with three kills off Anthony Emmsley-Ah Yee sets.
Ka’u saved one match point, but Redo-Rost’s kill ended the match.
In consolation play Friday, Ka Makani play Pearl City at 3:30 p.m. at Moanalua. The Trojans draw either Castle or St. Francis at 3:30 p.m. at Farrington.