Red Raiders hold off Moanalua
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Like last year, the Kahuku High School girls volleyball team stumbled a bit in the regular season. But also like last year, the Red Raiders regrouped just in time to win the O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Kahuku held off East Division rival Moanalua, 15-8, 15-13, last night to win its second straight OIA title at the University of Hawai'i's Stan Sheriff Center. The Menehune had won the regular season meeting, which was the Red Raiders' second straight loss.
Kahuku's Musie Olevao cranked up for a spike during the first game of the OIA girls' championship.
"All teams have their ups and downs, but we learned from those two losses," said Kahuku senior Tuli Peters, who led all hitters with 11 kills. "We knew our weaknesses and took care of them."
The Red Raiders (11-2) showed almost no weaknesses in the first game last night, jumping out to an 11-1 lead. Moanalua (11-2) closed it to 11-8 behind the serving of Resina Nataniela, but two more Menehune errors and kills by Peters and Chazel Fiso ended it.
"They were better prepared and more pumped up than last time," said Moanalua middle blocker Patti Hardimon. "They were digging everything and were much more energized today."
The Menehune came out stronger in the second game, taking a 9-5 lead led by the hitting of Hardimon and Alisa Hout. But more Moanalua errors allowed Kahuku to roar back and take a 12-9 advantage. The Menehune rallied to tie it at 12-12 after a kill by Ashley Gandauli, and the teams traded points to knot it again at 13-13.
But yet another Moanalua error put the Red Raiders up 14-13, and Kahuku ended it on a kill by Peters.
"Our goal was two sets and out," Peters said. "We knew they would come back strong, but we didn't want it to go to a third game."
Red Raiders coach Mona Ah Hoy said she warned her team not to expect the second game to be easy.
"I told them, 'You cannot get too confident,' " Ah Hoy said. "Especially against a team like Moanalua. They're well-coached, disciplined, and they take advantage of every mistake."
Said Hardimon: "We wanted to fight back and make them earn it, which they did."
For Kahuku, it was the second straight year in which the Red Raiders avenged a regular-season loss in the final. They defeated Kalani for last season's championship.
The Red Raiders also had extra incentive this time, since the school's two-time defending state champion football team was upset in the OIA quarterfinals last week.
That means for the first November since 1996, there is no football on the North Shore. That left the campus a little more quiet the past week, something the Kahuku's girls volleyball team tried to fix.
"We wanted to win not just for ourselves, but also for the boys," Peters said.
Ah Hoy agreed.
"The boys and girls are very close, very supportive of each other," Ah Hoy said. "But that goes for everything in the community. We wanted to win it for everybody."
