Both coaches attested to sloppy volleyball after Thursday night’s OIA quarterfinal match, but it was Naidah Gamurot’s Kapolei team steadying out its attack in the end for a four-set victory over Farrington at Moanalua gym.
The Hurricanes (10-1), the second seed out of the OIA West, advanced to Monday’s semifinal against East top seed Moanalua at Na Menehune’s gym. With the 25-13, 22-25, 27-25, 25-11 win, Kapolei also clinched a spot in the Division I state tournament.
Toodie Sopi hammered away for 18 kills and Alexis Kepa collected 29 assists, six kills and four aces to lead the Hurricanes on offense.
“We were a little bit tentative,” Gamurot said. “First game of playoffs tend to be like that. We couldn’t get a rhythm. There’s stuff we need to fix.”
Farrington (8-4), the OIA East’s third seed, played its strongest in the second set and put the worry into Kapolei in the third. An ace by Jerica Vele got the Governors into a 24-all tie in the set that had 10 deadlocks and three lead changes. But a Sopi kill and a Kepa ace gave the Hurricanes the all-important 2-1 edge.
The clinching set was no contest. Kapolei built leads of 10-5 and 17-10 before closing it out with an 8-1 run. Kawehi Marinas fired away with two kills in that last surge, including the winner on match point. Marinas finished with nine kills, and middle Angel Nahinu delivered seven to go along with four aces.
“We could have done a lot better,” Kepa, the Hurricanes’ setter, said. “I’m happy we pushed through together and stayed together. (In the future), it’s going to take us going for it and never giving up. The trouble, I think tonight, was that we didn’t stay aggressive the whole time. I know we can do it. I believe in our team.”
Angel Thi Nguyen-Cheng paced the Govs on offense with nine kills. Alelujah Faamasino and Camilla Chun pitched in with seven kills each, and Vele contributed with 23 assists.
“We beat ourselves,” Farrington coach Savanah Kahakai said. “A lot of points Kapolei got were off our errors. Mentally and physically, we weren’t there. We laid back and thought Kapolei was going to lay down and die for us, but that wasn’t the case. We would fight to come back and catch up and then lay back.”
Farrington meets Nanakuli in the consolation bracket on Monday at Kalani gym. Both teams have a chance to get into states, but need two wins to finish in fifth place.
Moanalua 3, Nanakuli 0
Alexis Tradie Debina-Bautista put down 12 kills and Tayli Ikenaga added 11 to lead Na Menehune to a 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 win and into a semifinal matchup against Kapolei on Monday at home.
Moanalua (12-0) is out to get back the OIA title it won in 2017 that was taken away by Mililani a year ago.
“There was consistency in our play,” Na Menehune coach Alan Cabanting said. “(Against Kapolei), they have a huge pin hitter (Toodie Sopi) and we’re going to have to rely on our serve so they don’t get into any kind of hitting rhythm.”
The Golden Hawks dropped to 6-6.
“We’ve gotta learn to bounce back,” Nanakuli coach Junius Wong said. “We’ve had some ups and downs. It doesn’t shock me the way we played. If we want (a spot at states), we need to play harder than this.”