KAILUA-KONA — With only minor hiccups, the BIIF Division I semifinal match-ups played out as expected. Kamehameha-Hawaii opened DI play on Friday at Kealakehe High School by beating Hilo in four sets. Waiakea followed with a three set victory over hosting Kealakehe.
Both Kamehameha and Waiakea were unquestionably the best two teams all season long. Kamehameha enters the league championship on Saturday at Kealakehe as the No. 1 overall seed with a perfect 13-0 record. Waiakea, the No. 2 seed, has only two losses this season (11-2), both of which came against the team they will face in the finals.
Kamehameha reached the finals by dismantling Hilo in the semis 25-15, 25-12, 23-25, 25-13. The third set loss came when Kamehameha elected to clear its bench. Waiakea had an easier go against Kealakehe, winning 25-21, 25-17, 30-28.
Despite the victory against Hilo (6-8), Kamehameha coach Guy Enriques wasn’t particularly thrilled with the way his team played.
“It was a slow game and I thought Hilo did a pretty good job in pushing us. They worked harder than we did,” Enriques said. “I would have loved to seen a little better performance by us. We didn’t control the ball like we normally do, we didn’t serve well, we missed our targets and we passed a lot of tight balls. I don’t think we scared anybody tonight.”
Each set against Hilo was a battle in the early going. In the first set, Hilo trailed 9-8 before the Warriors were able to pull away thanks to the play of Isaiah Laeha. Laeha scored three quick points off kills in a 5-1 run. Hilo managed to pull to within three points but Laeha answered with a pair of kills, including the final point of the set.
Pukana Vincent stepped up his game in the second set with three straight points for Kamehameha. After a big run, a block by Jarvis Benito gave the Warriors a 20-10 advantage. Kamehameha easily took the second set.
Needing only one more set to clinch the victory, Enriques elected to clear his bench in the third set to get his backups some playing experience in big game situations. The backups for the Warriors played well, but Hilo managed to squeak out the victory thanks to the play of Taulelei Toledo and Kyron Toriano.
In the final set, the Warriors jumped out early to a 10-5 advantage. Their lead was never in danger and Addison Enriques closed out the game at the service line.
While Guy Enriques was quick to point out his teams flaws after the game, he also praised the play of Laeha. The outside hitter was dominant all game long, leading Kamehameha with 15 kills.
“He is pretty steady night to night,” Enriques said.
Vincent followed Laeha with 12 kills and Addison Enriques added 11 to go along with his team best 95.2 percent serving accuracy. Avery Enriques picked up 10 digs
Guy Enriques also noted the play of Benito at the net. Benito was a wall for most of the night, picking up several blocks.
“There were some good things tonight,” Enriques said, “but we have to come back with a lot more fight in the championship game or we are going to be in trouble.”
In the other semifinal match on the evening, Kealakehe did not want to go quietly against Waiakea.
The first set was a battle, with Waiakea managing to pull away at the end. The second set was all Waiakea, as Kealakehe struggled to find a rhythm, hitting the balls into the net and earning net violations. The third set was one to remember as both teams had set point late, only to have it slip away until Waiakea finally earned back-to-back points with kills that were deflected out of bounds by the Waveriders.
Waiakea proved to be the biggest challenge to Kamehameha during the regular season, but still could not manage to take a set in the two-match series. The last time the two teams played, Kamehameha won 29-27, 26-24.
“They are a very good team and we are very fortunate to squeak by them the last two times we played, “ Guy Enriques said.
Guy Enriques added that his squad has yet to play a full Waiakea team as well. Both times this season, Waiakea was missing players.
“They haven’t had a full squad against us yet and we were playing our lights out,” the coach said. “If we don’t play well we will not be a happy team after the game. We have to be at our best against them.”
