Kealakehe hosted Kohala in its regular season home opener on Tuesday for a thrilling five-set match.
Kealakehe hosted Kohala in its regular season home opener on Tuesday for a thrilling five-set match.
The Cowgirls looked like a dominant team early on, taking the first two sets 25-21 and 25-17 before the Waveriders found a late rhythm and a solid serving game to tie the match at two sets apiece. They won the third and fourth sets 25-20.
In the final set, Kealakehe struck first with a serve by libero Faith Hernandez. However, Kohala answered back with seven straight points behind the service game of Zaz Matsu. The Cowgirls went on to take the final set 15-6 for the victory.
“Kealakehe is a tough team and we were able to limit our errors in that last set,” said Kohala head coach Nick Lorenzo. “This was a team effort. They stuck with it, they were bending but they did not break.”
Both Kealakehe (1-1) and Kohala (3-0) went into Tuesday’s regular season game after two very different preseason schedules. The Waveriders played in two tournaments and were able to get 15 games in before the start of the season.
Unlike Kealakehe, the Cowgirls did not get much of a preseason. Actually, they did not have a single preseason match, but they did manage to open the regular season with wins against Keaau and Makua Lani. They defeated Keaau in four sets and won by forfeit against Makua Lani.
Coming from a small school, Kohala obviously has a small team. Sure, the numbers are not high, but they are also lacking in the height department according to Lorenzo, the three-year boys coach, who is in his first year as head coach of the girls program.
“We do not have a lot of players who can play above the tape,” Lorenzo said. “We will have to use our angles and be aggressive.”
That they were able to do against Kealakehe, led by their one senior Devyn Redican-Martin and their returning setter from last year, Cheylin Imai, who is only a sophomore.
“Cheylin is one of the few girls we have that can play above the tape,” Lorenzo said. “She will be asked to expand her role this year because of it.”
The Waveriders have had a busy preseason but luck has not been on their side. Kealakehe is opening the new school year with only 10 players. Out of the 10, only five were full or part-time starters last season.
“We lost more than we should have from last year,” said Kealakehe head coach Duke Hartfield. “We lost two seniors but also had four kids leave the program.”
For a team hurting in depth, the Waveriders’ long preseason was a great way to get some of the less experienced players much needed reps. However, what they couldn’t afford was an any injury, especially to their best player.
During the Waiakea tournament, senior Nicole Cristobal suffered a very bad ankle injury that will most likely keep her out of action until mid-September.
“Nicole is on crutches right now after twisting her ankle,” Hartfield said. “Originally we thought it was broken so she is very lucky.”
Filling the void left by Cristobal will not be easy, and will force Hartfield to play several players out of position.
The team will need to lean heavily on Abcde Tan, Hopo’e Napoleon-Martins and Iwanohealani Liufau. Tan and Liufau are both outside hitters, though Liufau will be forced to play middle to try to fill the void of Cristobal. Napoleon-Martins is the second middle.
The team will also rely heavily on its two setters, Wynter Ahmow and Liana Lawson. Lawson was on JV last year and Wynter is a defensive specialist.
“The better they get, the better the team will do,” Hartfield said.
Kealakehe will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Keaau. Kohala will play Friday at home against HAAS.