When they were 7 years old, Laurie McGrath and Nani Spaar had a friendly competition. It was about who was taller. McGrath had the early lead, but it has switched for the Pilipaa teammates.
Spaar, a Kamehameha sophomore, is now 6 feet 1 while McGrath, a Hilo junior, is 5-11. Maybe, McGrath hits another growth spurt, and it’s always helpful to have height on the club volleyball scene.
Behind those twin towers, Pilipaa defeated the Piopio Bears 25-19, 25-13 for the Moku O Keawe Region 16s title on Saturday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, clinching a berth to the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships.
There are a few Maui teams in the Big Island’s region. Still, coach Chris Leonard’s Pilipaa and coach Gail Rosehill’s Piopio club teams featured many of the young promising BIIF talent.
McGrath is already a verbal commit to the UH Rainbow Wahine beach team while Spaar is a verbal commit to the Temple Owls.
They took turns ripping balls from the left post. McGrath led the charge with nine kills, and Spaar slammed eight kills for Pilipaa, which had too much firepower and smashed far more kills than the Bears, 29-8.
Anastasia Tuifua (Kealakehe) added seven kills, Mahala Kaapuni (Hilo) drilled three, and Megan Baldado (Kamehameha) had two kills, offering too many hitting dimensions from the left, middle, and right spots.
Bethany Honma (Waiakea) knocked down three kills to lead the Bears, who served into the net to end Game 1 and couldn’t stop Pilipaa from scoring eight straight points to conclude the match.
“We worked well as a team. It’s good to have everybody together. We have an awesome team,” Spaar said. “The hitting was good, but we couldn’t make it work without our teammates. You can’t hit the ball without a set and pass.”
Besides Tuifua, defender Kiilani Takata and setter Alike Kaiawe are from Kealakehe. Both are freshmen. From Kamehameha are Spaar, Baldado, Tiani Bello, and Lokelani Kuamoo. From Hilo are McGrath, Kaapuni, defender Mia Takai, and Aaliyah Asuncion.
Last year at nationals, the Pilipaa 15s finished in 22nd place, in the top half of one the most talented fields in Leonard’s eyes.
“We were tall for a Hawaii team,” he said. “But we faced much taller teams. In all my years going to nationals, that field was the best in the age group that we were in.”
Spaar is looking forward to facing the best competition in her age group, again, at the national level. She’s got a scholarship locked up, but maybe her teammates can make an impression on the college scouts at junior nationals, which will be held June 25-July 4 at Detroit.
“It’s great competition, and you see new people,” she said. “Going to nationals gives you experience. Every time you play on the mainland you get better.”
Unfortunately, McGrath won’t make the trip to Michigan. She’s committed to her summer beach tour. She plays for two beach clubs, 692 in California, where she has family, and Outrigger on Oahu.
The 692 teams plays in tournaments up and down the Cali coast. Last year, her best beach moment came with 692 playing against associate clubs from Texas and San Diego. Players picked a teammate from a hat. McGrath and her partner won the tourney.
“That was the most fun tourney for me,” she said. “I love beach volleyball. It’s my favorite sport. But I love playing for Pilipaa, too. I get to see all my friends and get ready for BIIFs and college.”
Even though Spaar and McGrath are nearly the same height, they’re different hitters. Spaar grew up as an outside and hits the ball at its highest peak. With her launch angle, the ball goes straight down and easily over blocks, especially on the Big Island, where she’s tall for her size.
McGrath has been a middle blocker, where there’s no runaway to build momentum and bang the ball. Beach has helped her in that aspect. From a bounce standpoint, sand is the opposite of a trampoline, so McGrath is good at taking a swing in a small area.
But against the Bears, she was flying into balls and taking rip shots to open spots. Her beach vision helps her see the court, and she and Spaar pulverized fives kills each in the first set.
Bello injured her ankle and didn’t take any swings. She and others will fill in for McGrath. Basically, there’s a lot of tough competition, not only at nationals but for playing time on Pilipaa, too.
“The goal is to not only be the best in Hilo but to push the bar as high as we can and compete and succeed at nationals,” Leonard said. “This group is crazy talented, and it’s been fun working with this group.”
Girls 18
• Piopio Bears def. HI Intensity, 28-26: In the double-elimination tournament, the Bears prevailed in the sudden-death, one-set championship, a match that was tied at 21, 23, 24, 25, and 26.
From there, Kailee Kurokawa, a Hilo senior, smashed a kill, and her Viking senior teammate Lexi Paglinawan dropped an ace for aloha ball.
The Bears declined the automatic berth to the nationals, coach Laura Thompson said. HI Intensity coach Carla Carpenter-Kabalis didn’t have a chance to talk to her team about grabbing the spot.
The match felt like a Hilo and Waiakea crosstown rivalry again. Kawai Ua and Paglinawan were hitting partners for the last time for Piopio while Kayla Kahauolopua, a Waiakea senior, was HI Intensity’s big hammer.
“We’ve got girls going to college. This is the way they wanted to end their senior year,” Thompson said. “They wanted to play in the Region, and it’s a Hilo thing.
“This team, this whole group helped each other. We got to play everybody, and it was a team effort, which was pretty awesome.”
Other results
• Boys 14s: Pilipaa def. Wiwoole, 25-10, 25-11.
• Girls 14s: Cuzins def. Piopio 25-16, 25-11
• Girls 12s: Piopio def Cuzins 25-20, 25-21