Roosevelt outlasts Leilehua to claim first league crown since 2011

Greg Yamamoto | SL

It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

Roosevelt began the game on the business end of an 18-0 scoring run, but finished the job with a 9-2 spurt, taking down Leilehua in a five-set thriller, 7-25, 26-24, 25-17, 27-25, 15-4, to claim the school's first league title since 2011.

"Our coaches told us in the beginning (of the season) that we have a chance to make history here," said Kaycie Garnett of the title clinching win. "Most of us were one, maybe just born. All of our hard work brought us to the point, and to represent our school like that and give us a chance to when when we get that gym, to show that (title banner), its an honor."

The Rough Riders had a rough start to say the least, as the Mules scored the first 18 points of the match before winning the first set in dominating fashion, 25-7.

With nowhere to go but up from there, Roosevelt did just that in set two, rebounding nicely to take the set 26-24. In the second, the hard swinging play of Garnett paid immediate dividends on a few key points but more importantly injected some much needed spark.

"Things weren't going our way and we just needed to light that spark and add fuel to the fire, so that everybody else can follow," said Garnett.

Still set two could have easily swung in the Mules' favor, as they tied the score at both 23 and 24-all before a Hilinai Kahawai kill was followed up by an ace on the ensuing point by Alana Lewis that tied the match at one set a piece.

Roosevelt's momentum carried into set three, paced by nine kills from Garnett, that saw the Riders lead by as many as nine at 22-13 on a Lewis kill, winning the third rather easily, 25-17.

Key in the swing of the match in Roosevelt's direction was due in no small part to the play of senior setter Naveah Brown, who accounted for 39 of the team's 48 assists and added two kills, two aces and seven digs.

"She's the veteran on this team, she's got the expeirence and we all trust her," said Garnett of Brown. "To have senior mentor that everybody can look up to, that's something special and we're going to miss her next season."

Faced with a must-win fourth set, the Mules found momentum swinging back their way, where it led 18-15 before seeing Roosevelt rallying to tie the set up at 18, then three more times at 22, 23 and 25, before the Mules finally broke through on a Cali Moniz-Kealoha kill followed up by a set ending block by the duo of Maria Koreti Vaa and Zraia Tolentino.

The decisive fifth was all Rough Riders, who raced out to a 5-1 lead and never really looked back, ending the match on a 9-2 scoring run capped off by an ace from Lewis, her third of the match.

It was quite the evening for Garnett, who tallied 18 kills, 24 digs, seven aces and a block solo, along with an assist for good measure. Her presence on the outside helped provide middle Hilinai Kahawai with some much needed breathing room against the Mules' front line, where she ended the match with 15 kills of her own.

In the loss, Moniz-Kealoha put down 16 kills, had 15 digs and added two blocks an ace, while Zraia Tolentino chipped in 10 kills and seven blocks, and Evan LeClair had 19 assists and 19 digs to go along wit four kills, a block and an ace.

The win in the title match over the Mules helped avenge the Rough Riders only league defeat this season. Roosevelt is also 2-0 in five set matches.

"Today showed that we have the grit and the energy to keep going and fight back no matter whatever's happening," said Garnett.

Both teams advance to the HHSAA Division II tournament, with play beginning on Oct 29.