The options are limited for a 5-foot-8 volleyball player going up against players with at least a 6-inch height advantage.
Rather than getting blocked on his kill attempts, Hawaii Baptist’s Nicolas Caballes tooled his shots off of Westview’s blockers the entire match.
The smallest hitter on the floor finished with nine kills to help HBA beat Westview (Calif.) 25-22, 19-25, 15-10 during Friday’s pool play of the Hawaii Invitational at ‘Iolani.
“He’s really gained a lot of confidence playing against a bigger block,” HBA coach Teoni Obrey said of his 5-8 sophomore hitter. “He’s using what we’ve asked him to work on. He wants to get better and he wants to get better for our team. That’s huge.”
Caballes didn’t get a kill until Set 2 and finished with eight in that set. His kills either came off the hands of Westview’s blockers or through them.
“It was just a matter of being another option,” Caballes said. “Hands, definitely tooling, they’re way bigger than me.”
Caballes had a kill and a block to give the Eagles an early lead in Set 3. From there, Isaac Liva and Brett Miller, HBA’s 6-4 and 6-2 outside hitters, helped the Eagles close out the match.
“Hawaii Baptist is a great team and they beat us when they came to San Diego (a few years ago) and beat us in three,” said Westview coach Steve McLaughlin. “They have strong hitters and their smaller outside hitter (Caballes) played great against us.”
Setter BJ Hosaka had 31 assists in the win and was able to distribute the ball to the entire lineup to beat Westview’s imposing block of 6-foot-plus players.
Liva had 10 kills for fifth-ranked Hawaii Baptist, which has won the past four Division II state titles. Miller and Caleb Fisher had six kills each and combined for five blocks. Gabe Mendoza had 15 kills and Aaron Fox had seven kills for Westview, which is making its second tournament appearance.
“I was just trying to establish the middles and move it out, get one-on-ones as much as possible,” Hosaka said.
The three-set match was a test for HBA, a team that’s still learning to play with each other. Several players joined the team right after basketball season. With a tournament lineup that includes local Division I teams it never plays and California schools, the tourney is providing a test for a squad that hasn’t spent much time with each other.
“We’re just trying to get better, especially in our league. It’s not that competitive in ILH D-II,” Hosaka said. “Especially the late start from basketball, a lot of our guys came late. We’ve only been together for a month … just trying to hang together. It’s going to take time.”
Added Obrey: “It’s a learning experience for us, especially when things aren’t going for us and we’re not playing our best. Just to be able to grind it out and come out on top is great for us.”
Scores
Maryknoll def. Kealakehe 17-25, 25-18, 16-14
‘Iolani def. Seabury Hall 25-22, 25-21
Kamehameha-Hawaii def. Santa Monica (Calif.) 25-11, 25-17
Punahou II def. KS 25-27, 25-19, 15-13
Kealakehe def. Santa Monica 33-25, 25-22, 21-19
Maryknoll def. Seabury Hall 25-17, 25-20
Moanalua def. Saint Louis 25-15, 25-13
La Jolla (Calif.) def. University 25-14, 25-21
Punahou def. Kalaheo 25-17, 25-19
Punahou def. La Jolla (Calif.) 25-14, 27-25
Moanalua def. HBA 25-27, 29-27, 15-13
Kamehameha def. ‘Iolani 25-18, 26-28, 15-12
KS-Hawaii def. Punahou II 25-9, 25-19
