Girls volleyball breaks Nā Aliʻi win streak
The Warriors deal King Kekaulike their first loss this season
Photo by Ashley Morishita
Kamehameha Warriors were on their feet at the end of Thursdayʻs game against King Kekaulike. The Warriors claimed their first victory this season against Nā Aliʻi and brought their opponentsʻ win streak to an end, October 16, at Kaʻulaheanuiokamoku Gymnasium.
The Kamehameha Maui Warriors celebrated victory in their third face off with King Kekaulike this season. The Warriors settled the game at 3-2 while playing each set out point for point in Kaʻulaheanuiokamoku Gymnasium last night in front of a packed gym.
“We finally showed our potential tonight, and we’re always improving every day,” Head Coach Bala Spencer said. “I believe that playing Seabury this past Monday and winning boosted the girlsʻ confidence for tonight’s game.”
The Warriors had played the Spartans, Division 2 leaders, in an inter-division exhibition match on Monday to raise funds for breast cancer awareness and research.
Last nightʻs crowd turned out to not only see one of the last games of the regular season, but also to see if Nā Aliʻi would finish the season undefeated, having beaten all opponents, including defeating the 2013-14 Maui Interscholastic League champions, KS Maui, twice.
In the first set of the game, while both teams were getting warmed up, the scores increased steadily. Each team volleyed back and forth, and as the end of the first set approached, Nā Aliʻi created a 7-point gap, took the lead, and concluded the set in front, 18-25.
During the second and third sets the Warriors were firing on all cylinders. They won both sets comfortably in the lead. The third set wrapped up at 25-15 and the fourth set at 25-16.
In the third set, junior Kaira Davis made an exceptional amount of kills to keep the Warriors ahead. Overall, she racked up 10 kills for the night.
In the fourth set, King Kekaulike won 25-13 and advanced the game to go into the tie breaking fifth set.
The two upcountry rivals were killing it in the final set as they both battled it out point for point with a steady one-point lead with each serve; the energy from the crowd was intense.
(Update 10/19: Ka Leo o Nā Koa recognizes that this is not a fully accurate reporting of the fifth set. See community comments following this story for additional information about the details of the fifth set. We regret the error in the initial reporting of this set.)
“Tonight, being a home game, did make a difference because of the support we get out of our school,” Coach Bala said.
With the loud support of the crowd, led by the KSM cheerleaders, the Warriors’ Harley Gonsalves finally broke the fifth set tie with a kill, ending the set at 15-13 in favor of Kamehameha. Warrior fans went ballistic because of the result.
“There are no words that even begin to describe how great this feeling is to finally beat them because we worked so hard to get here,” libero Kaʻala Corpuz said. “We look forward to playing them and redeeming ourselves once again next week during the playoffs.”
The Warriors played their final game against the Baldwin Bears tonight and won another fierce 5-set challenge, 3-2.
Next, the second-place Warriors (9-3) will play in the semifinals of the MIL tournament on Thursday to determine tournament champion and seeding at the Hawaiʻi High School Athletics Association state tournament.
“They now realize that their potential is right there to grasp,” Coach Bala said. “Looking forward to next week as far as the tournament goes, we’re not to sure yet, but we’re going to keep working hard.”
Lloyd Nebres • Oct 20, 2014 at 8:23 am
You know, I tnink Ka Leo is often a way better vehicle for reporting on KSM athletics than the Maui News! Their accomplishments on the student journalism front are definitely not a fluke. (And the Maui News sports page is often riddled with factual errors; just the other day, for example, they said the KSM-Baldwin match was held at Baldwin’s gym. LOL!)
Also, critical feedback is an excellent thing for young writers to have, isn’t it?
Finally, I wasn’t just focusing on Danielle Brown, though I did point out her key contribution during that critical final run. If you re-read my original post, my concluding point was that the match should have been primarily characterized as a COMEBACK by the Warriors (the entire team)… and, speaking with bias as a Warrior fan, secondarily as a CHOKE by the opposing team. Although one can say that without having to resort to that embarrassing word. ::chuckle:: (Seriously, I haven’t seen a collapse as definitive as that ‘accomplished’ by the Na Ali’i that night, and I’ve watched MIL volleyball for years.)
p.s.: and finally finally… I think folks posting on public forums such as these should use their actual names, to stand behind what they say. Just saying, “warrior fan”. 😉
Imua warriors • Oct 19, 2014 at 3:00 pm
Yup. Props be given to danielle brown and her strategic serves. However lets give some props to the dig, set and hit that took place after the serves. All players made it happen by doing their specific jobs. Yes,errors were made by “all.” But, in the end they put the recipe together with all ingredients necessary for success. Go get me girls!!!!
warrior fan • Oct 19, 2014 at 1:57 pm
Well, first of all- CONGRATULATIONS!!! Warriors for an impressive streak this past week. Playing four games in one week is a tough feat. Not sure if any other team in the MIL had games back to back as did the Warriors twice with the same teams. Anyway, they pulled it off as a TEAM.
I admire the expertise being given in both previous comments. However, although trying to be unbiased, they both ( one more than the other) seem to somewhat focus on one player. One player does not make a team. All of the girls, including the girls on the bench, should be commended for an amazing job. In the Maui News article on Seabury this past week, Coach Bala mentioned the fact that the girls on the bench need to be commended as well. They help these “more experienced,” players get better each day. All the girls on the team contributed in their own ways. When some made mistakes, including some of the more experienced players, others were there to pick the slack up.
My point being, yes there may be those who contribute more to the game or the win, but worrying so much about focusing on one player and their experience or their contribution to the big win, often times brings the rest of the team, who are working hard, down. They are teenagers and not professional athletes.
The Kaleo article written was criticized for not bringing the full story out. These are students writing and doing their best. They will learn as they grow and progress regarding the ins and outs of unbiased articles. However, not even the Maui News gives detail, detail accounts for all to relive the exact moment in every single article.
All girls on that court and on the bench should be commended for their hard work and hustling. The awesome, strategically placed serves were “KEY” and we hope to see more of those key serves in the upcoming games, but please lets not forget what takes place after the key serves are made. Lets. encourage the girls to believe in each other and every bit of talent they all possess. They did this as a TEAM and can be successful if they keep that mindset all the way through the tournament. IMUA WARRIORS!!!!
Mary Henderson • Oct 18, 2014 at 8:36 pm
Hmmmm. I’m so glad that someone else recognized the obvious. First of all as a reporter you should learn not be biased about the girls you seem to favor. The last point play did not win your game. The momentum of the game was in Na Ali ‘i’s favor. The Warriors down 10 – 5. Your more experienced player, Danielle Brown strategically placed her serves immediately after the refs whistle. The score now 10 – 11 in favor of the Warriors. The crowd was electrified that the Warriors had the momentum on their side. With the crowd standing in awe with the game points going back and forth, Danielle Brown dove for the dig saving the ball for the setter who than set the ball for the hitter for match point.
So why not give credit to all the people that credit is due to.
Congratulations IMUA Kamehameha
Lloyd Nebres • Oct 18, 2014 at 4:42 pm
Nice article. But I’m afraid you didn’t quite characterize the latter part of the match accurately.
This is what happened, as I saw it. Having gone up 2-1 in games, the Warrior Wahine seemed to have the match well in hand, needing only to win the 4th to finally remove the jinx they seemed to be under, as far as playing their cross-Kula-Highway rivals all season long. Then they utterly imploded, in an embarrassing 13-25 rout. Anyone who follows volleyball knows how sickening that must have felt to the Kamehameha players. So, the match was tied 2-2, a 5th and deciding set forced by Na Ali’i… with whom the momentum clearly belonged.
You characterized that 5th set this way: “The two upcountry rivals were killing it in the final set as they both battled it out point for point with a steady one-point lead with each serve…”
Uhm, that is most definitely NOT what happened. When the 5th set started, the Na Ali’i carried their momentum from that 4th set thrashing they had administered the Warrior Wahine straight through the set, and found themselves comfortably leading, 10-5.
Anyone who follows volleyball knows that that’s pretty much game over. Momentum on your side, you leading 10-5? Definitely a gimme.
Which is when something quite extraordinary happened: (1) Danielle Brown got to the serving line, and proceeded to make some pinpoint, well-placed serves, which flummoxed the Na Ali’i passers–normally, Danielle has a tough jump/spike set that gives passers all sorts of trouble, but she didn’t do that this time; (2) because of Danielle’s canny serving, the Na Ali’i started to wobble and, despite 2 time-outs from Coach Al, the Na Ali’i began CHOKING the match away, and found themselves down 10-11, all from Danielle’s serving streak. From that point, it became a back-and-forth sideout exchange, but the momentum clearly had swung to the Warriors’ side of the court.
For me, the bigger picture is quite clear: the Warriors snatched victory from the jaws of certain defeat, to use a hoary cliché. They were utterly dominated in that embarrassing 4th set, and found themselves down 5-10 in the 5th. They came roaring back. That should be the story, I submit. 🙂