Girls volleyball defeats Kekaulike; poised to reclaim title
Dig Pink event raises money for breast cancer awareness
Photo by Alyssa Urayanza
Danielle Brown (7) pushes the ball over the net as Nā Ali’i Treyanna-Lee Freitas (1) and Rose Love (5) get ready to save during the Dig Pink match on Friday, Sept. 18. The Warriors emerged victorious from the match with a score of 3-1.
The Kamehameha girls volleyball team defeated the King Kekaulike Nā Aliʻi for the second time this season in a 3-1 match on Friday, Sept. 18 at Ka’ulaheanuiokamoku gymnasium.
The Warriors won the first set, but lost the second.
“Weʻre a team that is constantly working hard every single day,” Coach Bala Spencer said. “Starting down in the second set and coming back, it was great.”
During the game, fans on both sides wildly cheered as the teams battled it out on the court. Each point seemed to bring about a whole new set of whoops and cheers.
Kaira Davis scored the first point during the first set, followed right away by Nā Aliʻi. The first two points of the first set already showed how evenly matched the sets would be.
The Warriors pulled ahead by two points at 7-5 before Nā Aliʻi overtook them with a three-point lead, 12-9. Shortly after, the Warriors regain their lead and kept it, winning the first set with a score of 25-21.
Nā Aliʻi turned it around during the second set staying ahead of the Warriors for the majority of the set and winning 25-22, making it Warriors 1 and Nā Aliʻi 1.
“We were just afraid that we were going to miss serves and not get our passes on point,” Senior Kaitlyn Castillo said. “[Overall] I am very confident in our team. We did very well. We were able to strive through adversity and pull through.”
During the third set, the Warriors got their hands on the first point of the set, but fell behind immediately. Nā Aliʻi took hold of a point lead at 5-4 and held firm. The Warriors finally saw their chance to pull ahead at 19-19 and charged on. The Warriors scored point after point, 20-19, 23-19, 24-20. The third set ended with a miraculous recovery score of 25-20.
Nā Aliʻi once again came out strong during the fourth set, scoring the first point, and maintaining a lead until the score evened out at 9-9. After that, the Warriors took the lead and ended the game with the final set score of 25-23.
“We donʻt care if we win by two or 22,” Coach Bala said, “Weʻre going to take it. Theyʻre probably the other strongest team and itʻs still their [Maui Interscholastic League championship] trophy to defend. We have to work to take it away.”
Friday’s match was a Dig Pink match where fans wore pink and players sported black socks with pink ribbons to raise awareness for breast cancer month in October. The gym was also decorated in pink balloons, banners and ribbons.
The Dig Pink aspect of the game was created by Castillo as part of her senior project.
Out in the hallway of the gym were tables lavishly set with pink headbands, necklaces, keychains, desserts and other goodies. There, people could make a donation and choose from the variety of pink products in exchange.
“All of the donations will be donated to the Side-Out Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that spreads breast-cancer awareness through volleyball,” Castillo said.
Castilloʻs target was to raise at least $700.00 in donations, and her preliminary total was a little over $800, so it was a success. Once the profits from the t-shirts is figured in, she will be forwarding the full amount to Side-Out.
Click here for more information on the Side-Out Foundation.
