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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 9:01 a.m., Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Preps: KS-Maui improves to 9-0 with sweep of Seabury Hall

By Mary Beth Bishop
The Maui News

THE MAUI NEWS

For more Maui news, visit www.mauinews.com

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OLINDA, Maui — The Kamehameha Schools Maui girls volleyball team stayed unbeaten in the Maui Interscholastic League last night, but not before Seabury Hall made the Warriors work for it at a boisterous Erdman Athletic Center.

The Warriors rallied to win 25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23, putting themselves a win away from a perfect regular season.

''Nobody on this varsity team has beaten them in the regular season, so it's a big win for us,'' Kamehameha coach Bala Spencer said to The Maui News. ''Yeah, they're Division II, but they're also the state runner-ups in Division II, so they're no slouches. It's a good test for us to see where we're at.''

Ginger Long led the Warriors (9-0) with 12 kills and three blocks, while Teilissa Tua had 10 kills and two blocks.

Kamehameha's Kayla-Al Kaluau had 18 digs and Whitney Santos had 14 digs and six kills before leaving the match late in the third game with a knee injury.

Sage DeCosta contributed nine kills and Kaulana Ane had three aces and 18 assists for the Warriors.

''This really helps us for the playoffs as well as states, plus the environment's really cool,'' Spencer said. ''Every time Seabury has a fun crowd and we try to get our kids out to match that.''

Wailana Spangler and Kanani Santos each had 10 kills for the Spartans (6-3). Spangler also had four aces and nine digs, while Kanani Santos had one ace and 16 digs.

Leslie Smith had six kills, two aces and a block, while Keana Cramer contributed 28 assists, four aces, five digs, four kills and a block.

''They played well,'' said Seabury Hall coach Scottie Zucco. ''One of the things that we've been trying to do is work on practice intensity and playing with that same intensity. A game like this — a good, tough game against a good, tough opponent — can do wonders for the practice environment.''

The teams tied six different times in the second game, including at 24-24 on a tip by the Warriors' Cymbree DeCosta.

''All I was thinking was, 'I have to play hard, get this point because I know the team is counting on me,''' said DeCosta, who finished with 24 assists. ''Both teams are good — we have good passers, good setters, good hitters on both teams — and we just have good talent on both teams that made it a really good competition.''

The teams tied nine times in the third game. Santos left with Kamehameha leading 21-20.

Three unforced errors by the Spartans in the last five points helped the Warriors to the win.

''We didn't play a very good game, we played a horrible match — tons and tons of unforced errors — so we have to give credit to Seabury because they caused us to do those,'' Spencer said. ''In that last game alone, we had 21 unforced errors, but yet we still came away with the win. So our girls are fighters, which is good.''