By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
The promising Moku O Keawe girls finished off a solid performance in the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, placing sixth overall in the weeklong event for girls ages 15-16.
Moku O Keawe, a team comprised of Big Island prep players, swept Lakeshore, Mich., 26-24, 25-23, 25-14 in its morning match at the Iowa Events Center to advance to the Silver Bracket final against the Badger Girls N.Y. But in their final match of the tournament, Badger Girls N.Y. fought past Moku O Keawe 25-18, 25-19, 26-24 to claim fifth place.
The Big Island squad finished with a 5-3 record, including an impressive 4-0 start.
“It was a great tournament and a great experience for all the girls,” Leonard said. “Our team successfully competed against some of the top teams in the country. We just missed making it to the Golden Bracket’s Final Four, but if a couple of more balls fell our way, we might have made the Final Four.
“And looking at how the tournament finished up, we actually beat the silver medalist and the fourth-place finisher. We were right there on the edge of making the Final Four.”
This year also marked the first time that the Moku O Keawe Region was represented in the tournament.
“The Moku O Keawe Region was well-represented and showed our girls can compete with those other top teams from the other the regions,” Leonard said. “It was an eye-opening experience for our girls, to realize that they could compete with the best players in their age groups from around the United States.
“They’re level of play is right there. They also now know if they’re willing to work hard, good things can happen for them.”
Moku O Keawe was seeded 13th in the 16-team National Youth Girls Division.
“We were right there in every match,” Leonard said. “We need to work on our consistency, but overall our girls did really well in a very competitive tournament.”
On Friday, Moku O Keawe played two matches, needing at least one win to advance to the Gold Bracket’s Final Four. However, the Big Islanders fell twice — first losing to North Texas 19-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-16, 16-14 in a thriller and then falling to second-seeded Sun Country, from El Paso, Texas, 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-14.
Iowa National Youth (8-0) defeated CHRVA Youth 25-20, 25-22, 25-14 in the Gold Bracket title match.
Moku O Keawe will fly back to Hilo on Monday, arriving that evening. And with school starting that day, the Big Island girls won’t have any time to rest.
“All of the girls are playing high school volleyball and they will be going right back to their high school teams,” Leonard said. “Some may miss the first day of tryouts on Monday, but they’ve got to get back into it right away.
“But the good thing is that they know they’re capable of playing against top players from around the country and that should give them even more confidence heading into the high school season.”
Moku O Keawe players include Kaiulani Ahuna, Amanda Loeffler, Zoe Leonard, Taylor Alicuben, Kaela Avanilla, Toni Beck, Maxine Block, Jeyci Kaili, Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker, Pua Wong, Evalani Toledo and Harley Woolsey.
