Saramasina Docktor drilled nine kills and Skylah Kunihisa pounded eight as Leilehua swept Pearl City 25-11, 25-23 on Tuesday night at the Chargers’ gym.
Leilehua improved to 5-2 in OIA Division I play. Docktor, a 6-foot senior, also had a block. The Lady Mules had definitive advantage in blocks, 5-0, and aces, 4-1.
Kunihisa, a senior outside hitter, also had an ace. Jewel Lopeti, a 5-9 senior, was a jumping jack, with three of her team’s roofs. Junior Abrianna Green chipped in three kills and two aces, and setter Brittany Pasoquen, also a junior, had 19 aces.
Pearl City dropped to 1-5 and is in a battle for one of the six playoff berths in the division. Chargers coach Bryan Camello got a spark from reserve setter Mariah Ah Tou as they scrapped hard and led the second set 13-10. With Ah Tou at setter, Pearl City could use regular setter Lexxus Enos (10 assists) as a hitter.
“We made some adjustments,” said Camello, a former Roosevelt coach who is now in his fourth season with his alma mater. “There’s some good battles every day at practice and our setter (Ah Tou) did a good job off the bench.
Down three points at a pivotal juncture, Lady Mules coach Ernest Balignasay called time out.
“They could not hold themselves. We needed to get back the momentum,” he said. “Pearl City gave us a fight.”
After the timeout, Kunihisa had an ace and Lopeti a block and a kill to power a 5-0 run. That was the first of six lead changes in the second game.
Leilehua led 23-22 when Pearl City’s Mariah Matapua tied the set with a kill, but the Chargers had a hitting error to give the visitors match point. Kunihisa then delivered her final kill on a roll shot to end the match.
Sophomore Shirlita Wimberly led the Chargers with six kills. Enos, Iwalani Teixeira, Vivian Barns and Matapua each added three kills.
“Experience-wise, we’re very young,” Camello said. “We’ve got a ways to go to figure out how to win. Leilehua’s a good team, but staying focused when it’s tough, that’s hard for us right now. We’ve played most of the top teams in our division. Now the pressure is on.”