Kamehameha and Waiakea produced a sloppy but entertaining BIIF volleyball match Friday night in the season-opener.
Despite an abundance of unforced errors, Kamehameha swept error-prone Waiakea 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 in a Division I showdown at the Warriors gym.
Kamehameha (1-0) committed 36 unforced errors, including seven service miscues, often on balls hit into the net.
Waiakea (0-1) had 41 unforced errors, including 11 from the service line. The host Warriors also struggled mightily in serve-receive, surrendering eight aces.
Kamehameha, technically, only had to score an average of 11 points per game to win. Waiakea supplied most of the points with its sloppy play.
“It was a good first game of the year,” Kamehameha coach Daryl Masanda said. “We got the cobwebs out, got to play everybody. We’ve got to get back in the gym and keep working on things.”
Kamehameha, the 2019 BIIF champion, also played without one of its top players, 6-foot-2 senior outside hitter Kaimi Kealoha, who was on a college visit.
Waiakea last won the BIIF title in 2013 when it was led by Mamane Namahoe, who later played at UH-Manoa.
Despite breaking in two new setters in junior Micah Mahuna and senior Dorian Roque-Kuamoo, junior Micah Wana knocked down 11 kills, senior Khayden Kahihikolo added five kills, and freshman Kullen Pua had four kills for Kamehameha.
Both setters struggled to properly set Kahihikolo, who has by far the biggest jump in the gym. The 5-8 middle couldn’t slam the ball at his highest peak.
That’s nothing more repetitions can’t fix.
“Wana was up and down. He had some connection issues. He’s working with two setters he never worked with,” Masanda said. “The mistakes were the kind mistakes we can fix. I think we’ll be OK there. They kept the pressure on us, and I liked how we reacted. Our guys didn’t panic and took care of the ball and did what they had to do and did enough to win.”
When Mahuna and Roque-Kuamoo get that timing right, watch out. Kahihikolo could be a force. He’s a sky-high jumper and hard hitter.
Junior outside hitter Claymon Morante pounded 13 kills and looked like the most well-rounded player in the gym. He’s the younger brother of Clayton Morante, a 2010 Waiakea graduate and four-year All-BIIF standout, and Clayson, a 2016 graduate and also an All-BIIF standout.
Morante grew up with volleyball and is simply more seasoned than everybody else. He’s the toughest server with a fastball jump-serve, a solid passer in serve-receive and solid attacker from the behind the 10-foot line and at the pin.
However, Kamehameha had better ball-control and was able to pass Morante’s bullets from the service line and dig his hard shots.
Junior outside hitter Kamahao Kaawaloa-Okita added six kills, and AJ Doll had four for Waiakea, which starts two freshmen in setter Jayse Hayashi and libero Mateo Sakata.
Kamehameha started off with a 7-0 run, recording three early points when the Waiakea serve-receive passers couldn’t pass the ball straight for unforced errors. Waiakea scored four straight points on unforced errors to cut the lead to 19-14.
The Warriors got within 24-23 then Kamehameha had two consecutive hitting errors. But Waiakea had a hitting error for game point.
In Game 2, Waiakea led 23-21 but couldn’t close out Kamehameha, which scored on an unforced error, two kills by Wana and another giveaway point.
In the third set, Kamehameha bolted to a 19-7 cushion and scored its last four points on unforced errors.
Outside of Morante, Sakata was the second-most impressive Warrior with his passing skills in serve-receive and attacks off the net.
Hayashi has solid hands but struggled a bit with his placement. Twice he had bad sets, sending the ball to Kamehameha’s side of the net. But what was typical, both times the Kamehameha hitters drilled the ball long for unforced errors.
It was that kind of a night, full of errors from both Warriors, but entertaining.