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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, September 12, 2009

HBA spikes Spartans in ILH


By Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i Baptist's outside hitters banged away as usual, but spreading the ball around helped the Eagles pull away.

Outside hitters Sarah Palmer and C'era Oliveira had 14 and nine kills, respectively, as visiting Hawai'i Baptist swept Maryknoll, 25-20, 25-16, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls volleyball match at Clarence T.C. Gym Gymnasium.

Hawai'i Baptist, ranked No. 6 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, improves to 6-1. Maryknoll is 5-2.

"We spread out our sets because we knew they would be ready for our outside hitters," said Hawai'i Baptist junior setter Kayla Kawamura.

Knowing they would be open, Kawamura got the rest of her team involved in the win. Middle Brianna Lovett had three kills in Set 1 while running on the step out, and middle CJ Asuncion had three in Set 2.

"Bri did really good, she was really effective for our offense," Oliveira said. "That's what we needed."

The teams were relatively even in both sets before the Eagles pulled away late in both.

Kawamura's ace broke the 11th tie of Set 1 and gave the Eagles a 17-16 lead. Oliveira followed with a kill to make it 18-16.

Maryknoll then called a timeout and responded with a kill to cut it to 18-17, but the Eagles scored the next four points to pull away. Palmer and Jordin Ramos each had a kill and Oliveira had an ace during the run. Ramos' kill on the right ended Set 1.

Palmer had four kills to put the Eagles ahead 5-2 in Set 2. The Spartans hung around, closing to 10-9 on Capri Tirrell's kill and 15-13 after two Eagle errors.

After Tiffany Sakamoto's kill cut the deficit to 19-16, Asuncion put the ball away on an overpass and Palmer had two kills out of the backrow to close out the match.

Taylor Lum had five kills to lead the Spartans, whose defense kept them in the match.

"Defense is always going to be our strong point," Maryknoll coach Lee Lamb said. "We have some really good defenders, they always manage to touch the ball. That's our philosophy, keep the opportunities available so we can put the ball away."