KOHALA COAST — For the Konawaena girls doubles tennis team of Rashai Kailiwai and Tayvia Yamagata, winning the state title would have just been icing on the cake after becoming the first Wildcat players to move past the quarterfinals at the HHSAA tournament.
That would explain why, after suffering a straight set 2-6, 2-6 loss to the Kamehameha-Maui pairing of Sarah Ikioka and Kylee Kato at the Fairmont Orchid Tennis Center on Saturday, the Konawaena duo was still all smiles while walking up to the net to shake hands with their opponents.
Kailiwai left it all on the court for the final match of her senior campaign.
“It was really fun to make the finals with Tayvia in my final year,” Kailiwai said. “I really felt like we made a statement out there.”
The Wildcat doubles team was able to reach the finals despite a difficult road where they had to dispatch the No. 3 seeded team of Haley Fujimori and Alysse Nakasato (Mililani) in the quarterfinals and the No. 2 seeded team of Laura Okazaki and Chloe Miwa (Iolani) in the semis.
“It was exciting for the entire team because no Konawaena team has ever made it this far before,” Konawaena coach Debi Yamamoto said. “We saw the draw and thought they had a good chance and they had a good run at the title.”
Despite the strong run, Kailiwai and Yamagata ran into a wall in the finals when they were forced to take on the top seeded team of the tournament. Experience quickly played a factor.
On one side of the court stood a Konawaena pairing who have only played together for about a month, joining at the start of the BIIF team tournament. On the other side of the court, Ikioka and Kato knew each other well, having played together all four years of high school.
“There was a reason they were ranked No. 1,” Konawaena coach Richard Kahalioumi said. “They know each other very well and can anticipate what the other will do before they do it.”
The Kamehameha-Maui duo nearly won the state title last year but fell to a team from Punahou in the championship match. Both Warrior girls entered the 2016 season as seniors and they were determined to go out on top.
The match started with the Warriors quickly breaking the serve of Yamagata, a trend that would continue through the morning. Kamehameha-Maui went up 2-0 before Kailiwai won her serve. The Warriors then took the next three games before Kailiwai won her second serve. Kamehameha-Maui closed out the set on the next point when Kailiwai attempted to poach a shot at the net and the ball sailed wide.
Kailiwai served to open the second set and put her team up 1-0, the only time the Wildcats would have an advantage. The Warriors won the next five games, while also breaking the service game of Kailiwai for the first time.
Down 1-5, and facing match point, the Wildcats tried to hold on with a long rally. Kato served the point for the Warriors and Ikioka closed out the match with a cross-court spinner.
After the win, both Kamehameha-Maui players were overwhelmed with joy.
“It is a great feeling and I can’t really put my thoughts into words right now,” Kato said.
“We made sure to do every thing that we practiced and we worked very hard to get here,” Ikioka added.
For Warrior head coach Kathy Kanemitsu, the win wraps up the high school career of two players she deems “irreplaceable.”
“They are both dynamic players with different styles and different ways to view different shots,” Kanemitsu said. “But more importantly, they were always willing to help out the younger, developing players. They are an inspiration to the entire team.”
Ikioka and Kato were the only top seed to win the title at the state tournament.
No. 2 seed Phuc Huynh (Iolani) upset top seeded Andre Ilagan (Farrington) in the boys singles title match 6-4, 6-4. No. 3 seeded Taylor Lau (St. Francis) defeated No. 4 seed Alyssia Fossorier in the girls singles championship 6-1, 6-4. In the boys doubles title match, the No. 4 seeded team of Reyn Miyagawa and Seann Esaki (Mid-Pac) defeated top seeded Austin Hamamoto and Hia Lam (Punahou) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
