Story update 11/2: The Maui Warriors fell to Pearl City in the Nov. 1 game, 27-26, 15-25, 15-12. The Kapālama Warriors defeated Kahuku High School in four sets and moved on to the championship finals. Kapālama will be playing Punahou for the state title at 7:00 p.m. tonight at Blaisdell Center.
KAIMUKĪ, OʻAHU–It was all trick and no treat for the Maui Warriors on Oct. 31 at the Kaimukī High School gymnasium. Kamehameha Kapālama beat Kamehameha Maui, 3-0, at the New City Nissan Girls Volleyball 2012 Hawaiʻi State Championships.
“We were prepared for a tough game,” Senior Anuhea Kaiaokamalie said.
The Maui Warriors were shut down in a quick three-set game, each in favor of the Kapālama Warriors. The set scores were 15-25, 13-25 and 20-25.
“KSM fought hard,” Kapālama Head Coach Chris Blake said. “We were forced into a lot of hard positions.”
The KSM Warriors started preparing for their first game on Saturday, and on Tuesday, they learned that their first game was to be against their sister campus on Oʻahu.
“It would have been a blow out if we didn’t prepare for that level,” KSM Head Coach Bala Spencer said. “To their credit, Kapālama has a larger pool of students and talent to choose from. They have a good team.”
The Maui Warriors were far behind the Kapālama Warriors throughout the first set, and lost by a 10-point margin at the end.
The Maui girls struggled to make a streak of aces and kills in the second set and hoped to take advantage of Kapālama’s mistakes.
“We’ve got to capitalize on mistakes,” Coach Spencer said. “Teams make them here and there.”
But the Kapālama Warriors were hot, and they won the second set by even more than the first, 12 points this time.
The KSM Warriors came close to making a comeback in the third and final set against their sister school.
The Kapālama Warriors kept a small lead of 2-3 points on the Maui Warriors throughout the set. Just when it seemed that the Maui Warriors would make a quick comeback, Kapālama would surge ahead again, finally taking the third set.
KS Kapālama will play the Kahuku Red Raiders at 7:00 p.m., Nov. 1, and continue the race for the state championship, while the KSM Warriors will play the Peal City Chargers at 7 p.m. tonight. If they are victorious, they will play again on Friday, when they would compete for either fifth or sixth place in the state.
