By KEVIN JAKAHI By KEVIN JAKAHI ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald sports writer Parker coach Ehitu Keeling and Christian Liberty coach Tiffany Chai help their girls volleyball teams improve in different ways. Keeling likes the think-tank approach, a group discussion often as long
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Parker coach Ehitu Keeling and Christian Liberty coach Tiffany Chai help their girls volleyball teams improve in different ways.
Keeling likes the think-tank approach, a group discussion often as long as 30 minutes, after practices and matches — finding the best solution to fix flaws, even in victory.
That was the case, after the Bulls swept the Canefire 25-18, 25-21, 27-25 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation match on Saturday at Wainaku Gym.
Junior outside hitter Darnee Brightner lit up CLA for 12 kills. Emily Whitfield, Parker’s mobile junior middle blocker, added eight kills.
“Darnee’s our most veteran player,” said Keeling, in his second year as coach. “Volleyball is more her sport than most of the other girls. We rely on her a little more. Emily is our most dominant hitter. She’s our most athletic player. Every now and then, Nohili Thompson, our opposite and second setter, will give us kills. They’re all well-rounded and have great relationships on and off the court.
“I emphasize defense, especially our passing. Without defense and passing, you don’t have an offense. What I stress is passing, defense and serving. Practice is like a pop quiz. Saturday’s game is the time for the test. That’s when you take everything you’ve learned from practice and bring it to perform.
“I like how our girls are coachable. They take everything I say and apply it on the court. They try their best and give 110 percent every time, especially on academics. That comes first and sports is a passion.”
The Waimea private school, with an enrollment of 375 students, including 60 in high school, was 2-13 last season, losing to Honokaa in the first round of the BIIF Division II tournament.
“We want to try and reach the playoffs and advance one more game,” Keeling said. “We always want to improve every year.”
Making things better is foremost on Keeling’s mind. He’s in the recycling business, Hana Hou Recycling. His website Na Kii Maoli is on Facebook, and features surf photography, landscape shots, and background on Hawaiian legend sites.
“The big picture is go zero in waste,” said Keeling, speaking about his passion; the other seeing his team improve.
Keep it simple
Chai keeps her philosophy basic, too. She was a two-time All-American at Northland International University, a Division II member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, under her father Dave Herron.
The first-year coach’s assistant is her husband Grant Chai, a 2003 Christian Liberty graduate, who played for Herron. That’s how he met his future wife. They’re both in their second year as teachers at the school, which has an enrollment of 250 students, including 75 in high school.
She makes the Canefire run sprints for service errors, and unattended serve-receive balls that bounce off the floor. Chai was quite pleased that her team’s giveaway points on serves went down from five to three to one.
However, the Bulls finished the match with an ace — one that clipped the sideline that the Canefire players thought was going to go wide. It didn’t, which likely means an extra sprint at Monday’s practice.
“Our goal for a game is to not miss any serves and not let any balls drop (on serve-receive),” Chai said. “For the season, our goal is to do better than last year. We didn’t win any games last year (0-15 record).
“But we have 11 players this year instead of six. Mike Chai (her brother-in-law) coached last year and we helped, so we know the girls. We’ve got potential. It’s just a matter of believing in ourselves and our teammates. If we do that, we’ll be successful.”
Have Faith
CLA senior setter Faith Matsuura has soft hands and usually gives her hitters clean swings. She rarely overshoots sets. Her fundamentals are solid, after learing the sport with Rachelle Hanohano’s Na Opio club team as a seventh grader.
But she’d rather clobber balls than run around the court, chasing wayward passes. She figures she does enough running with the missed serves and drops on serve-receive. For their previous loss to Pahoa, the Canefire had 16 sprints.
“I like that feeling knowing you’re in the air and getting that kill,” she said. “I wish I could play offense. But I’ll do what’s best for the team.”
She’s come to embrace CLA, after going to Hilo as a freshman and taking online classes as a sophomore. Matsuura pointed out that it wasn’t couch potato time, waking when she pleased and playing computer games.
It was quite the opposite. It was hard work. And it made her appreciate her surrounding at CLA all the more.
“It was tough. That’s why I came to Christian Liberty,” she said. “You’ve got to be self-driven and commit yourself. Every morning, you’d have to go to the computer and explain everything to yourself.
“My class is like my family, even though it’s my second year. The teachers are really nice. I’m also taking coach (Grant) Chai’s computer class. We’re learning the basics, and Microsoft Excel and Word, so when we go to college it won’t be a shock.”
She’s holding a 3.5 grade-point average and is looking at Trinity Western University in Canada to major in physical therapy. Her sister, Grace, is there. She would have a familiar face, and a good roommate.
Until then, Matsuura is hoping to help her Canefire teammates improve, especially on their serving and serve-receive passing — no serves into the net or out, and no drops for easy opposition points.
“Being an outside hitter doesn’t require as much sprinting for balls as a setter does,” she said, knowing sprints are part of the deal to making the Canefire better.
