BIIF Volleyball: Kealakehe beats Keaau in comeback fashion

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Kealakehe picked up its first BIIF regular season win of the season Tuesday evening in an an exciting 3-set home match against Keaau. The Waveriders and Cougars split the first two sets with similar scores of 25-23. In the final set, Kealakehe was down 15-6 but came back to win 25-21.

Kealakehe picked up its first BIIF regular season win of the season Tuesday evening in an an exciting 3-set home match against Keaau. The Waveriders and Cougars split the first two sets with similar scores of 25-23. In the final set, Kealakehe was down 15-6 but came back to win 25-21.

“We fell behind in all three games,” said Waveriders coach Duke Hartfield. “We talk about focus and making plays but we are a young team and sometimes get distracted. Keaau played us pretty consistently.”

Down by nine points in the final set, Kealakehe was able to chip away at the Keaau lead with their service game, led by senior Nika Paogofi-Buyten.

“All of the girls served well as we worked our way back,” Hartfield said. “Nika has a nice jump serve.”

Junior Fiona Miranda, who was the libero on last year’s JV squad, also served well, coming into the game and picking up three straight points.

The Waveriders were able to tie Keaau at 20 and then took advantage of a couple of Cougar miscues including a ball hit out of bounds and a handling call against the visiting team. Hopoe Napoleon-Martins was able to end the game with a big spike for a kill.