Kalani topples previously unbeaten Kalaheo, notches fourth league win

Greg Yamamoto | SL

Kalani rode a roller coaster of momentum swings en route to a four set defeat of Kalaheo, 25-18, 26-24, 21-25, 25-16.

Haylee Lyons had 18 kills, three aces and two assists and Raymie Lum added a game-high 20 kills of her own in the victory for the Falcons, who have won four straight after dropping a season opening five setter to Farrington.

"I feel like we worked hard and we were able to push through as a team together," said Torres. "And if we keep doing that this season, I think we could become a very good team."

Kalani setter Ayre Takamoto did a little bit of everything, registering 35 assists to go along with an ace and seven kills.

"We've been working on that in practice, being aggressive (as a setter) at the net," said Takamoto.

The home team took care of business in set one, jumping out to a comfortable margin early before letting Kalaheo sneak back into the set at 18-16 on a Jadalynn Satele kill.

Kalani seized control at 19-17, going on a 6-1 scoring spurt to take the first set, spurred by three kills in that stretch by Lum.

Set two saw the Falcons appear to be completely in control, jumping out to a lead as large as 17-7, but saw that lead thin to just a point at 22-21 on a Lucie Jager ace, then tie the game at 24-all on a kill by Ahryanna McGuirk.

From there, Kalani clutched up to score the final two points of the set, capped off by a Kailee-Lei McKee kill to end the second.

Kalani struggled to close things out in set three, trailing for virtually the entire set, but clawed back to 20-19 on yet another Lum kill before falling back to a four point gap on a kill by Maile Seeger at 23-19.

Four points later, the Mustangs took the set on a tandem block by Scarlet Ray and Madison Millard, sending the match to a fourth.

Kalaheo jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the fourth, but saw that margin not only evaporate, but become a six point deficit, as the Falcons went on a 9-0 scoring run to seize control of the match.

"Our goal this game was to sideout within three points, so we kept reminding ourselves of that," said Takamoto.

The Mustangs got as close as a three point deficit at 16-13, but the Falcons steadily pulled away, extending to a 23-16 lead on a Shyanne Yamada ace before closing the match out two points later.

Next up for Kalani is a road match with rival Kaiser on Monday followed by a home date against fourth-ranked Kahuku two days later.

"We're gearing up for some tough matches next week, still need to work on some small things and going to practice hard tomorrow," said Takamoto.