KEA‘AU — The Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i boys varsity volleyball beat Waiakea High School in five sets Wednesday night.
The first set saw WHS gain an early lead, but ultimately fall 25-19 as KSH overcame it.
Waiakea came back in the second set with a 25-20 win, then edged KSH to take the next set in extra points 28-26.
“Waiakea was working hard,” KSH head coach Sam Thomas said. “They wanted it, and our players seemed tentative.”
KSH evened the score by winning the third set 25-21.
Waiakea had its finger on the trigger with a 14-11 lead during the fifth set, but KSH held on and won 16-14.
“It felt lucky to win,” Thomas said. “Waiakea was in control of the fifth set, and we caught up real late.”
With this win, KSH remained undefeated at 4-0 while Waiakea moved to 2-3.
Micah Wana and Kullen Pua led KSH’s offense with 19 and 18 kills, respectively.
“(Wana and Pua) did really well,” Thomas said. “We had some good sets that let them terminate balls. We need to better support our offense going forward. We also had a good performance from out hitters Nauhikapakea Liwis and Nainoa Paio. Micah Mahuna also played well.”
KSH will play its next outing at 5 p.m. tonight at Hilo High School. The Vikings and the Warriors are currently tied for the BIIF Division I top standing, and the results of Friday’s match will break the tie. Hilo has defeated every other DI team besides KSH, who beat the Vikings in five sets during the pair’s last encounter.
Last week, Hilo swept Waiakea during a home match.
“We’re gonna have to work harder than we did (against Waiakea),” Thomas said. “We got the chance to see Hilo play during a tournament last week and they looked very strong. It should be a great match. We escaped with the win in the fifth set last time.”
Hilo and KSH will play against each other again on Monday, once again on the Vikings’ turf.
On Wednesday, Hilo and Waiakea will face off again — this time at WHS.