Anela Lee-Pakaki landed all six of her kills in the second set as Kapolei swept Nanakuli 25-18, 25-7 on Tuesday night in the OIA season opener for both teams.
A raucous, student-frenzied crowd of about 400 at the Hurricanes’ gym was treated to a balanced attack by the home team.
“I like our consistency. We didn’t do the roller-coaster thing. In the second set, they got to a good level and stayed steady the whole time,” Hurricanes coach Naidah Gamurot said.
Seleni Bartley had three kills and two of her team’s four aces in the opening set. The visiting Golden Hawks held their own for a while, leading 5-3 before Bartley went back to serve. She had both her aces during a 9-4 run that turned momentum around.
Freshmen Olivia Transfiguracion and Tiffany Mook were fluid and comfortable. Transfiguracion finished with 11 assists and an ace, while Mook tallied eight dimes and an ace.
“I’m pleased with my young ones, our first-year players,” Gamurot said. “When we were in preseason during the summer, I was worried about them adapting to the speed of the game.”
Lee-Pakaki brings relief to Kapolei, which saw its key players on the right side — Annika San Nicolas and Savannah Baldomero — graduate. San Nicolas is now at Lewis and Clark State, while Baldomero is at Casper College in Wyoming.
“Anela can place her serves well and change it up. We switched the offense because we’re taller than last year,” Gamurot said.
Jayleen Abregana had four kills and an ace in the first set. Michelyn Pilila‘au added two kills and two blocks in the middle and also had one of her team’s seven aces in the match. Kaile Tuisamatatele had her three kills in the first game and Amyri Paris chipped in two kills.
The second set was a runaway from the start. Kapolei took an 8-0 lead as its ninth-grade setters found Lee-Pakaki on the right side for a big run of points.
Haley Thomas led Nanakuli (0-1) with four kills and two blocks. Ashley Van Gieson added three kills and an ace. Ruth Kaeo dished out four assists.
Kapolei finished with seven aces and just one service error along with four blocks. The ’Canes hit .309. Nanakuli struggled with serve-receive and hit .022 with two aces, three service errors and two blocks.
“We were competitive in the first game,” Nanakuli coach Junius Wong said. “Our serve-receive is definitely an issue. It’s definitely better than it used to be. Today, mentally, we weren’t there. Kapolei’s a tough team and more experienced. They’ve got a lot of juniors with varsity experience.”