Roosevelt sweeps past KS-Maui to reach Division I quarters

Roosevelt's Piilani Hirahara (12) sets the ball for Dylan Hall (11) for the ensuing kill to extend the Rough Riders lead 24-19 in the third set over Kamehameha-Maui in the first round of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball Championships at Kamehameha-Maui's Ka‘ulaheanuiokamoku Gymnasium. CJ Caraang | SL

It was far from smooth sailing, but the Roosevelt Rough Riders grinded out a straight set sweep of the Kamehameha-Maui Warriors in the opening round of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball Championships.

The set scores at Kaulakeanuiokamoku Gymnasium were 25-16, 27-25, 25-19 in the Riders first appearance in state tourney play since 2016.

"Our school hasn't been to states in awhile so with us and the football boys also making states, we really got to bring this home and show everyone what Roosevelt is made of," said setter Piilani Hirahara.

Dylan Hall put down 11 kills and Jourdyn Kekauoha-Viena added 10 more to lead the way for the Riders, who got a match-high 32 assists from Hirahara in the win.

The home team led in the early moments of the match, but eventually the visiting Riders found their groove to the tune of an 8-0 scoring run that gave them the lead for good in the opening set. In that stretch, the serve of Lauren Miller kept the Warriors out of system, forcing four hitting errors with a service ace for good measure sandwiched between.

"It was very important for us to serve tough and to get them out of system and be able to play our game," said Hirahara.

Kamehameha-Maui closed to 15-13 on a Haven De Silva kill, but another 5-0 spurt from Roosevelt capped off by a Archer Fabrao ace, gave the Rough Riders a commanding seven point margin that ultimately resulted in a 25-16 win in set one.

Set two was a crucial one, that saw the Warriors battle back from an 11-7 deficit to eventually build an 18-15 lead fueled by an 8-2 stretch that was capped off by a pari of aces by Harlee-Rose Gaud. That run was countered by a run by the Riders, a 7-2 advantage that pushed the visitors ahead 22-20 on an ace by Hirahara.

The back and forth in the set continued, and the score eventually knotted again at 23-all. A kill by Hall gave Roosevelt set point, but a service error following a Warriors' timeout knotted the score back up.

De Silva's third kill of the set gave the Warriors a chance at leveling the match, but a service error on the ensuing point tied things up once again, opening the door for Roosevelt, who took the chance and capitalized, with an ace from Hall followed by a kill by Kekauoha-Viena that put the visitors up two sets to none.

"It was very critical," said Hirahara of battling back in the second. "I feel like in order for us to close out the game we had to secure that second set."

The third set saw the Warriors poised to force a fourth set, building a five point lead at 15-10, on a kill by Archer Fabrao, but as it did all match, Roosevelt went on yet another scoring run, this one a 10-1 burst that turned the tide completely.

From there, Kamehameha-Maui closed to 23-19 on a Zsyla Honda kill to keep hope alive, but kills on consecutive points by Hall and Kekauoha-Viena put an end to the set and match.

The Warriors hit just .075 in the match, but the Riders fared only slightly better at .167. Roosevelt also registered nine service aces compared to just five for Kamehameha-Maui, and held a slight edge in the blocks department (10 to 8).

Fabrao had 11 kills to lead the Warriors, and Haylee Pruse dished out 24 assists in the loss.