PUKALANI – The JV girls volleyball Warriors cut it close with their loss to the King Kekaulike Nā Ali’i tonight at Ka’ulaheanuiokamoku Gymnasium during the Dig Pink match-up. Nā Ali’i bettered the Warriors, winning the game two sets to one.

The first set went in the Warriors favor with a score of 21-17, while Nā Ali’i turned it around in the second set 21-14 and finally went on to win the third set with a score of 15-8.

“I feel that we could have done better, but we fought hard and just did our best,” said freshman Kaira Lee Davis.

The team wasn’t very happy with their playing tonight.

“We need to communicate more,” Davis said. “We also need to stop being afraid to make mistakes. We think too much about what we did wrong and that is what really brings us down.”

Davis also said that their playing was not up to par with their normal standards. Many of their serves did not reach the opposite side of the court, which was one of the problems, Davis said.

“We weren’t doing as well as normal,” she said, “but I’m not blaming just one person. It was all of us.”

Freshman Kandace Ota agreed with her teammate about her team’s determination tonight.

“We got discouraged super easily,” she said. “Our energy level really went down the more points that the other team scored.”

Despite the loss, players and fans were quickly energized when a troupe of Taiko drummers, including KSM sophomore Shai Ibara, hammered out some rhythms while the varsity team warmed up for their game.

It was all part of the festivities to raise awareness of breast cancer in the teams’ annual Dig Pink matches.