KEAAU – With Game 1 hanging in the balance, Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker gave Kailee Yoshimura a nice, big set with which to work.
KEAAU – With Game 1 hanging in the balance, Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker gave Kailee Yoshimura a nice, big set with which to work.
Earlier in the season, Yoshimura might have tried to play it safe, but on Tuesday night she swung ferociously and she swung confidently, and that is starting to make all the difference for Kamehameha.
Makekau-Whittaker did a little bit of everything on Senior Night at Koaia Gym, posting 10 kills as the Warriors swept Hilo 25-23, 25-17 in a possible BIIF Division I playoff preview.
“We’re starting to swing to win,” coach Sam Thomas said.
Yoshimura, a senior opposite hitter, contributed seven aces and Hiwa Kaapuni added five kills as the Warriors (10-3 Red Division) avenged a two-game loss earlier in the season to the Vikings (8-5 Red Division). A few weeks ago, Kamehameha also avenged an August sweep against Waiakea.
“We’ve been working hard and I think the girls are starting to become more confident,” Thomas said.
The second-year coach knew what he had at at the beginning of the season in Makekau-Whittaker, an all-BIIF setter, but the five-time defending BIIF champion Warriors were breaking in five starters. Kaapuni, a sophomore outside hitter, and Yoshimura are players who have raised their level of play, Thomas said.
“Hiwa started the season on the bench, but now she is our No. 1 option at outside hitter,” he said. “If the sets are high enough, Kailee is going to put it away.”
A shining example was the key point of a back-and-forth first set that featured 11 ties.
Tied 23-23, Yoshimura received a set from Makekau-Whittaker and ripped it off the top of the net for a kill. Cassandra Fonseca (four kills) put a ball down to give the Warriors Game 1.
Sophomore Kawai Ua smacked five of her seven kills in Game 1 and also had three aces for Hilo, which was coming off a two-set loss to Waiakea. Alexus Paglinawan led a brief spurt in the second set with three kills and an ace, and Taina Leao had four kills.
Hilo and Kamehameha are on track to be the Nos. 2-3 seeds in Division I. Kamehameha is a game behind and Waiakea (12-2) in the loss column, and both have matches remaining against unbeaten Konawaena.
Makekau-Whittaker hammered cross-court balls all match, but the final kill of her home career was hardly her hardest, just a simple touch across the net on match point.
Still, Thomas’ point stands.
“We’re getting away from not taking risks,” he said. “It’s a process and we’re becoming risk-takers.”