Friday, November 12, 2021 | Today's Paper | 77.153°
JARED FUJISAKI photo Hilo High's Kyana Gabriel defeated one of her eight kills in the Vikings' 25-23, 25-23, 26-24 victory over Huayakea on Thursday.
Hilo volleyball coach Kaleinani Kahananui’s team may lead BIIF in terms of resilience, but will also lead in terms of self-inflicted errors. In the Vikings’ gym on Thursday against Waiakea’s veterans and senior day, everyone All show up equally.
The Vikings overcame 42 unforced mistakes, averaging 14 points per set, and swept the city rival Warriors 25-23, 25-23, 26-24, and gave away various free points in a game like Halloween. The candy in the division showdown included batting errors, service errors, and rotation confusion.
"We did a very good job of persistence. We were behind in every set because we made a lot of mistakes when we served," Kahananui said. "We have been committed to this in practice. This is a weakness we have been working hard to address. I am proud of the girls, who are able to persevere and move forward courageously."
In each set, the Vikings fell behind but united to deny the Warriors. They only had 20 kills and 27 unforced errors, including 6 serves. Hilo's statistics are not pretty: 37 kills, 42 points, including 14 serves.
"All three groups are deja vu. The girls worked very hard at the beginning and we just couldn't finish it," said Wiyakia coach Ashley Hanohano. "One of our team philosophy is to start strong and end strong."
Of course, when a team makes more unforced errors than kills, this is by no means a good thing. Basically, the Vikings were two opponents, the Warriors and themselves, and conquered both.
Sometimes, missed shots — long distances, touchlines, or netting — just happen to no avail. But a missed serve is like a missed free throw, and the coach wants it to be automatic. Hilo's 14 service errors became a momentum killer.
Despite this, the Warriors encountered difficulties outside Kaliko Kealoha against the 5-foot-10 sophomore, who scored a game-high 11 kills to lead the Vikings (3-1). They just can't stop her, it's hard to control her. Kealoha kept hitting the ball and opened the way for intermediate interceptors Kamalei Auwae (9 kills) and Kyana Gabriel (8 times) and Trina-D Grube (5 times) on the opposite side.
"Kaliko has always been one of our strongest batsmen," said Kahananui, who was also a strong batsman during the game. "She keeps getting better in small areas, which in general helps her game become stronger, and the same is true for everyone else, the little thing that makes their game stronger.
"We want to focus on our serve and pass, get out quickly, kill faster, do more digging, and put more discipline into our defense. We also want to celebrate our predecessors."
Bella Vickers was a 5-10 junior midfielder interceptor with 7 kills. Junior batsmen Shannon Iaea Kaleo (5 kills) and Kalley Quinores-Ah Sing (3) helped the Warriors (3- 1) Strengthened the offense, they at least won the solid suit of the junior Grace Nakoa-Oness of the 2019 BIIF Honor Award.
"We should use Bella more. She did a good job trying to reach the block. On the defensive end, she did a very good job," Hanohano said. "Kealoha is far above our block. She is excellent, even on their No. 15 Middle Road (Auwae). She did a great job."
In the first game, the Warriors fell behind 22-17 and scored 6 consecutive points, leading 23-22, 5 unforced errors and 1 kill by Nacoa Orness, the latter She is the younger sister of former Kamehameha basketball/volleyball outstanding player Isaiah Nacoa-Ornes. There are 1 service error, 1 spin error, and 3 batting errors.
But Hilo got a block, Gabriel shot it, and Wiyakea made a batting error on the set point.
Although the Vikings have been hurting themselves, they also offset this by defeating the Warriors 8-1 and getting easy points. Waiakea has more aces, 5-4.
In the second game, the Warriors took the lead again after Vickers' ace, leading 19-16. But the Vikings responded with a four-pointer and were capped by the killing of Kyloha in the back row.
Quinores-Ah Sing put the ball down, then Hilo made a mistake and Waiakea took the lead 23-20. But when the Warriors tried to close the door, the Vikings broke in, ate lunch peacefully and cleared with five points, which was highlighted by Kealoha's consecutive killings.
In the third game, it was the same thing again. Waiakea led 23-21 and nearly closed. But Gabriel brought a doorstop and killed consecutively. Hilo's batting error left Viakia one point away from winning a set.
But the Vikings got a block, the Warriors had a batting turnover, and the 5-10 sophomore Kealoha shined on Hilo's senior year, and she reached the match point for the 11th time.
Kamehameha is more likely to win the first place in the Eastern Conference in the five-team BIIF playoffs. The talented Warriors have three legitimate college prospects among junior Taina Kaauwai, second-year batter Maela Honma, and junior batter Sarah Schubert. The Eastern Conference No. 2 will avoid playing Kamehameha in the semifinals and will be replaced by Kairakhe, the only first-level team in the Western Conference. The East's No. 3 and No. 4 seeds (Keau High) will face Kamehameha in the semifinals.
"We need to worry about ourselves and stop making mistakes," Hanohano said. "We taught our girls to swing, and there was a lot of hesitation on the court. This is something we need to work hard on."
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