KEALAKEKUA — Konawaena continued its late season dominance with a regular season series sweep of Kealakehe after a straight set victory Thursday on Senior Night at the Ellison Onizuka Gym. The Wildcats won 25-14, 25-17, 25-8. ADVERTISING KEALAKEKUA — Konawaena
KEALAKEKUA — Konawaena continued its late season dominance with a regular season series sweep of Kealakehe after a straight set victory Thursday on Senior Night at the Ellison Onizuka Gym. The Wildcats won 25-14, 25-17, 25-8.
Konawaena head coach Ainsley Keawekane contributed the recent success — which includes wins over Kamehameha and Hilo this month — to his team finally getting healthy, most notably, Celena Molina.
“Celena is about 90 percent healthy, though she is still probably a little tentative on the net, Keawekane said. “But she is coming around.”
The match on Thursday opened up with a little back-and-forth play but Konawaena quickly found its rhythm behind Molina, Mahiehie Kaawa and Leisha Sessons.
With Sessions at the service line, the Wildcats went on a seven point run. Kaawa and Molina hooked up for a couple kills and Konawaena led 11-7. They would not trail for the rest of the opening set. Hopo’e Napoleon-Martins had several kills for the Waveriders.
Molina and Ha’ena Keawekane went on two long service runs to open the second set, putting Konawaena up 10-3. Molina — showing she can play every position on the court — picked up an ace during her time at the line and then added another on a second long run late in the set to put her team up by 11.
Kealakehe cut the deficit to seven late in the second set, but down 24-17, a shot sailed long putting Konawaena up 2-0.
The Waveriders started strong in the third set, but when Konawaena won the ball, everything started going right for the Wildcat offense. Up 7-5, Cherilyn Molina toed the line and sent Konawaena on a 15 point run. It was a complete team effort, with big kills coming from McKayla Ventura and Anastasia Tuifua, and streak saving digs coming from Keawekane and Kaawa.
Kealekehe’s Kaelyn Kamakaokalani finally ended the run with a well placed shot close to the net, but the Waveriders trailed 22-6. The match ended moments later when Celena Molina spiked the ball into the center of the court.
Celena Molina is one of 10 seniors playing for the Wildcats in the match. All of them had an opportunity to play in the game before being honored afterwards in front of the home fans.
“It will definitely be a rebuilding year next year,” Ainsley Keawekane said. “I started coaching a lot of these girls when they were 9 or 10 years old and now they are 17. It is a big loss, but that is why I coach, to build a team like this.”
