Girls Volleyball
Moanalua sweeps Kaiser, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20


 



Not waiting for the dramatic finish this time, Moanalua swept Kaiser, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20 last night in O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls volleyball playoff action at McKinley.

Na Menehune improved to 13-1 in league play and will face Eastern Division rival Kahuku (12-2) in Tuesday's semifinals, also at McKinley. First serve is set for around 7 p.m., or about 25 minutes after a 5 p.m. elimination match.

Kaiser (11-4) plays Castle (8-7) in an elimination match today at McKinley, following the 5 p.m. elimination match between Pearl City (12-2) and Mililani (11-3).

The Cougars had pushed Moanalua to the limit in two regular season matches, losing 15-13 in the decisive third set the first time and 17-15 the second time around. But Na Menehune had no interest in going down to the wire last night.

"We had the mindset that the first two times we played Kaiser, it wasn't our best volleyball," said Moanalua junior Erin Perez, a 5-foot-8 outside hitter who finished with a team-high 14 kills last night. "We know how they play, and tonight was do-or-die. We wanted to leave everything out there on the court."

The match appeared headed toward another fantastic finish in the first set, which was tied at 19-19. But two Cougars errors and a lift call helped Na Menehune pull ahead, 23-19, before kills by Taylor Ka'alele and Nikki Taylor closed it to 23-21. Courtney Calicdan's kill made it 24-21, and after a serving error, Perez landed an angle shot from the left side to end the game.

In the second set, Perez had three kills to spark a 6-1 run that stretched a 17-15 lead to 23-16 before ending it on another angle kill.

Moanalua jumped to an 11-5 lead in Game 3, but Kaiser rallied to close it to 11-10 after a kill by Shelby Pa. Calicdan then had three straight kills to push Na Menehune ahead at 14-10 and the Cougars could not get closer than two points the rest of the way.

"We came out flat, and our passing was not accurate -- we had a hard time running anything," Kaiser coach Ernest Noborikawa said. "If you cannot pass, you cannot set and you cannot swing."

Calicdan added 11 kills. Taylor finished with a match-high 15 kills.




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Crusaders knock off Rough Riders in mercy-rule finish

Shannon Fee and Jonah Brub combined on a two-hitter and No. 2 Saint Louis downed Roosevelt in five inning...

Laboy persevered through early-season injury for UH Lab; Fake rose to the occasion for Kamehameha

The junior OH came back from a severe ankle sprain to help the Jr. 'Bows claim their first state title,...

Pearl City outlasts ninth ranked Aiea in 11-inning marathon

Devin Fujino's two out single in the bottom of the 11th won it for the Chargers, the first over Na Alii...

Plays made and not aid No. 8 Waiakea to first-round victory

Loren Iwata pitched a complete game gem, and the Warriors made the most of two crucial plays that both...

Mortensen's sac fly in seventh leads Baldwin in first-round play

Pinch hitter Douglas Mortensen's sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning...

Kamehameha outlasts Punahou in overtime to go back-to-back

Warriors got the game winning goal by Tea Brandon with 1:56 left in regulation and hung on to deny the...