By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
This one time not at band camp, but on a volleyball court, Pahoa played a Big Island Interscholastic Federation opponent that was taller, more experienced and had a track record of bowling over small schools.
Did you guess Konawaena, the reigning Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state champion?
The Wildcats definitely fit the bill. In fact, they’re the No. 1 seed and host the No. 4 Daggers in the BIIF D-II semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the first of four day-long matches.
However, the opponent in mind is Ka‘u and the scenario was last season in the league’s third-place game — Pahoa’s most significant moment in 16 years.
The Trojans were the defending BIIF champs at the time, and had two potential college players on their roster in Toni Beck (Briar Cliff University) and Kamalani Fujikawa (Shoreline College). By the way, they had a much bigger block.
Erleen Oguma had the game of her life with 20 kills, Pahoa beat Ka‘u in five sets and earned a state berth, the school’s first since 1997.
A year later in the BIIF quarterfinals at Pahoa’s gym, it was an elimination game again between the two small schools. The Daggers took out the Trojans in four sets on Tuesday night.
Ka‘u didn’t have Beck and Fujikawa, but still held a size advantage at the net, and were soaked in more big-game pressure situations.
Dagger way
Despite a few inconvenient disadvantages, Pahoa won anyway and how they did so could be attributed to first-year coach Precious Salazar’s strategic approach.
“We wanted to focus on minimizing our errors,” she said. “We wanted to be smart on our third ball (attack attempt), know where to place the ball on the other side of the court.
“I thought our serving was very good and consistent. We tell our girls to have a safe pace or make an ace. We want them to know who’s on the other side of the court in serve-receive and be mindful of the situation.”
Sophomore setter Daecee Subia is Pahoa’s top server. She has a unique running jump-float, charging to the line and letting it rip. But she wasn’t the best ace producer against Ka‘u.
Golden Rowan and Jordyn Tagalicod led the ace barrage with five each while Subia had three aces to manufacture a huge edge over the Trojans, 14-3.
Tagalicod’s fifth ace made it 24-9 in Game 4, and a Ka‘u service error closed the books on a brewing rivalry. In the regular season, the Daggers went on the road and outlasted the Trojans in five sets in Pahala.
Really tough serving is the most effective way to neutralize an opponent’s offense, making it one-dimensional if wobbly passes and sets only lead to left-post attacks. The Daggers won that battle, by a comfortable margin.
So what about the other side of the ball? How to counter against a team’s taller block? And BTW, the Trojans still had more chips in the height department.
Oguma is a 5-foot-7 spark plug, and maybe an inch taller in shoes. The Pahoa senior knocked down a match-high 14 kills, including a half-dozen on tip shots. She was at her best when her team needed her most.
She racked up six kills in the first set to get Pahoa off to a good start. Then she had five kills in the swing third set when it was tied 1-1. Oguma doesn’t necessarily smoke shots, but she hits where the holes are.
But what Oguma really liked was the teamwork, especially the enthusiasm from everyone in a Dagger uniform.
“The whole key was we worked together,” she said. “Our goal is we want to go to states. It was a hard game, but we stayed together, and brought our ‘A’ game.”
On a mission
The Daggers know and pretty much everybody else is aware that Konawaena is on a mission. The Wildcats have been the BIIF runner-up the last three years, losing to Hawaii Prep in 2011, Ka‘u in ‘12 and HPA again last season.
Yes, Konawaena is the defending state champion. Last season was the school’s first state title for volleyball. But legacy is at stake and that goes down in the history books forever.
Kona doesn’t want to be remembered as the NFL’s version of the Buffalo Bills. The team’s core — sisters Chanelle and Celena Molina and McKenna Ventura — are all underclassmen. A dynasty conversation can’t start with zero BIIF titles; the last one was in 1998.
But upsets do happen. And maybe the Daggers make school history by reaching states back-to-back for the first time, either shocking the Wildcats or winning the third-place game.
To accomplish that mission, Salazar’s players know the main thing is they need to serve really tough and hit smart. That’s the Dagger way.