KEALAKEKUA — Parker School girls volleyball’s undefeated start to the season remained intact during Tuesday’s outing at Konawaena High School.
The Bulls outlasted the Wildcats in four competitive sets, relying on their team chemistry and defensive effort while countering Kona’s array of aggressive spikes at the net.
Parker won the first set 25-22, but had to scratch and claw for the second set-win — 27-25. The Wildcats got on the board by winning set No. 3 25-20, but Parker was ready to respond — winning by its largest margin of the night in a fifth-frame score of 25-17 to seal the deal.
“I really liked how we had a lot of control (over the game),” Bulls coach Sharon Peterson told West Hawaii Today. “There were quite a few pressured situations where they could have just dialed it in and said ‘I can’t do it’… but they did it.
“I think our overall spirit during the match was excellent.”
Per ScoringLive, 2024 is Parker’s (4-0) best start to the season since the site began tracking the school’s scores in 2009.
Peterson is proud of her team’s play thus far in 2024, but she noted that the Bulls will need to stay focused on the little things if they want to keep building on their hot start.
“Every day, we want to work on things to get better,” she said. “We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied. We are working on some more advanced things, like staying behind the ball, passing to the spot and setting the spot. It all has to do with precision and accuracy.
“If we get better at that, we’ll significantly improve.”
Parker will return to the court in Tuesday’s match against Makua Lani. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. in Old Airport’s gymnasium.
Kona (2-1) suffered its first loss of the year. The green and white will try to get back in the win column at 6 p.m. Sept. 5 against the Lions at home.
Kealakehe 3, MLCA 0
The Waveriders’ girls volleyball team notched its first win of the season Tuesday night against local opponent Makua Lani at Kealakehe High School. The ‘Riders won in straight sets — 25-18, 25-19 and 25-11.
Kealakehe head coach Mervlyn Simmons said that the Lions pushed them in the first two sets, but she particularly liked how her team rallied to close the match in the third frame.
“We were able to work through some kinkss in the first and second set, but I think by the time we got to the third set, they decided to come together as a team and say ‘enough is enough,’” she said.
“As I watched them battle through the first two games of our season, it was mostly nervousness and inexperience playing against well-oiled machine programs,” Simmons said of their first two losses against Konawaena and Hawaii Prep. “So to see them come together last night was beautiful. We just have to continue to prepare like we do for game days.”
The ‘Riders (1-2) will look to add to their new regular-season win streak against Honoka‘a at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Kealakehe. The blue and white will also travel to the Hilo side this weekend to partake in the KS-Hawai‘i tournament.
The Lions will next play against Parker next week.
JV: Kealakehe wins 2-0 — 25-10, 25-6
KSH 3, CLA 0
Kamehameha Schools-Hawai‘i girls volleyball earned its second win of 2024 with a straight-sets victory over the Canefire on Tuesday in Kea‘au — 25-6, 25-14 and 25-15.
For the Warriors, Mia Polloi and Madison-Rose Marsh led with six kills apiece. Defensively, Kealohi Dudoit tallied seven digs. In the serve department, KSH’s Ziona Launiu secured five aces.
The Warriors will return to action today in the annual Kamehameha Schools-Hawai‘i Labor Day Classic Girls Volleyball Tournament. The tournament begins at 8 a.m. on both Koai‘a gymnasium (three courts) and the school’s campus — as well as at the Afook-Chinen Auditorium (one court), which will run until about 9 p.m.
The tourney will also feature afternoon and evening matches at the school’s La‘amea gym (two courts) beginning at 3 p.m. The Gold Division Playoffs are slated for Koai‘a, beginning 8 a.m. on Saturday.
This year’s 38-team tournament features 26 teams from the mainland, seven teams from Oahu, one team from Maui and four Big Island teams — KSH, HPA, Kealakehe and Waiakea.
This event is open to the public at all three sites and there are no admission fees.
The link to the schedule and results can be found here: https://www.advancedeventsystems.com/17708/scheduler
HPA 3, Honoka‘a 1
Ka Makani girls volleyball found itself in an early-match hole during its outing with the Dragons on Tuesday in Honoka‘a town, but quickly recovered to seal the convincing win.
The Dragons won the first set 26-24, but HPA answered the call by winning the second frame 25-10. After winning set No. 3 25-12, Ka Makani had another statement set victory with a 25-8 rout in the fourth interval to end the match.
Still unbeaten at 3-0, HPA will next host local opponent Kanu o ka ‘Aina at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Castle Gym for its next regular season outing. The red and white will also play in the KS-Hawai‘i holiday tournament this weekend.
Honoka‘a (0-2) will try to redeem itself against Kealakehe next week on the road.
