Waiakea outside hitter Ty Nishimura stood out among the pile of errors in a volleyball match that also featured equal parts entertainment and momentum swings.
Waiakea outside hitter Ty Nishimura stood out among the pile of errors in a volleyball match that also featured equal parts entertainment and momentum swings.
The Warriors minimized their mistakes down the stretch just enough, and outlasted Hilo 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-8 in a BIIF showdown on Tuesday night.
The win helped Waiakea (8-1) stay a step ahead of Hilo (7-2) in the Division I standings, and avoid the dreaded No. 4 berth in the four-team BIIF playoffs and face likely top seed Kamehameha.
It’s been a wild ride in Division I. Earlier, Hilo defeated Kealakehe, which topped Waiakea. Hilo and Kealakehe have both lost to Kamehameha. Waiakea has yet to battle Kamehameha.
Nishimura, a 6-foot-2 junior, blasted five of his 20 kills in the last set at the Vikings Gym, where unforced errors (hitting, serving, ball-handling) were part of the excitement.
In a stat that put everything in a nutshell, the Warriors had 102 points and 50 unforced errors. That’s 49 percent or nearly an error for every two plays.
The Vikings were worse. They had 100 points and 52 unforced errors. They were giving away points like Halloween candy.
In the third set, there were 12 straight unforced errors by both teams. That might be a BIIF volleyball record for the crosstown rivals.
The Viks had more service errors than the Warriors, 17-13, often airmailing balls five feet past the back line.
But all those miscues took a backseat to Waiakea’s cleaner play in Game 5 and production from Nishimura and Kolbi Aiona, a lanky middle blocker.
Aiona rammed a ball down from the right side for a 5-5 tie. Then he served an ace. On the next play, a ball dropped between two Viks for a mental error and another giveaway point.
It was suddenly a 7-5 Waiakea lead. Nishimura followed with a back-row kill, and Aiona served three more points.
Then on match point, Marcus Kenui ripped a bullet from the service line, Hilo fumbled the ball, and hit the antennae.
All those Viking mistakes overshadowed the overpowering effort by senior outside hitter Bradley Comilla, who knocked down 25 kills.
Justice Lord added 10 kills, and Maikah Tandal took time off from setting to become a needed hitting option and had four kills.
Waiakea’s ball-control was pretty solid, and setter Kaniela Alviar was able to feed different hitters to keep Hilo’s block off-balanced.
Aiona got a few quick, line-drive sets and hammered seven kills, and Keahi Denne-Kimi, the other outside hitter, also had seven kills.
But in that final set, Hilo had more unforced errors than Waiakea, 5-3, and couldn’t stop Nishimura or its bad habit of giving away points.
New Warriors
It’s been a nice routine every May for Waiakea to make plane and hotel reservations for Oahu. After all, the perennial BIIF title contender has been to the HHSAA state tournament every year since 1996.
But for the first time in a long time, the Warriors have a bit of uncertainty with six new starters. They start only one senior in middle Keni Nakayama. Aiona is just a sophomore while Nishimura, Alviar, Denne-Kimi, libero Zach Cachola and Dylan Hoohuli are juniors.
Nishimura, the most athletic of the bunch with a quick arm swing, big hops and solid passing skills, is a late bloomer to volleyball, picking up the sport as a freshman. As a youngster, he played baseball, basketball and football.
He got into volleyball because of his cousin, Chayse Kaui, a 2011 Waiakea graduate and All-BIIF first-team outside hitter as a senior. Nishimura could join his cousin with the same honor. He’s playing with Waiakea coach Ecko Osorio’s Pilipaa club team to sharpen himself.
“I like volleyball now, and I like the concept of the game,” Nishimura said. “I like spiking.”
That’s the most fun part, but it’s not the most important, especially when hitting errors turn into a mountain.
“We played together and played with heart,” said Nishimura, emphasizing the main thing about beating Hilo. “Serving tough was another key.”
Levier, who also plays for Pilipaa, echoed that team chemistry point.
“Our problem has been talking, but we clicked and played together,” he said. “That’s what happened.”
It wasn’t that easy, though.
“We had a bad practice the day before the game. Our coach said we need to play together and be more positive. After that, we responded,” Nishimura said. “However, I knew I had to be a better leader by helping my teammates staying positive, having more energy on the court and most of all, staying humble. We had a lot of mistakes during the game but I just had to hang in there and bring my teammates up.
“I told my teammates after that one practice, ‘I don’t care if you make mistakes, all I want is effort and to play with heart.’ My mom told me, ‘The best players are not only good, but play with heart.’ Every game I always play for somebody. This game I played for my dad and my grandpa. They are the ones that motivate me into being a better player. I feel like if you believe in yourself and have confidence, you can achieve anything.”