[ HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL ]
Raiders climb to top of hill
In the eyes of the Kamehameha faithful, a comeback win over then-No. 1-ranked Punahou was more than awesome.
It meant the Warriors were finally closing in on their potential as the best girls volleyball team in the state. However, on the ballots of the Star-Bulletin Top 10 panel, the Iolani Raiders are the new No. 1 in the state.
Iolani collected seven of the 10 first-place votes, which suits Kamehameha coach Chris Blake well enough.
"It's OK. It gives us another week of preparation before we meet them on the court," said Blake, a Kamehameha graduate who seems to thrive on being an underdog. "It's an opinion of a whole bunch of people. We're honored to be where we're at, but it gives us motivation to keep on improving."
Iolani won its lone match last week against St. Andrew's and is heavily favored against Division II foes University and St. Francis this week.
Kamehameha, which garnered the remaining three first-place votes, has it a bit tougher. The Warriors meet University and No. 6 St. Francis this week.
If the two teams win out this week, a showdown on Monday at Iolani will pit the two remaining unbeaten teams in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.
For now, though, the Warriors can feed off the momentum of success. Their win over Punahou was a 180-degree turn from a two-set loss to the Buffanblu last month.
"It was a great team win for us. I'm proud of the way the girls handled the adversity they faced during the match, and the way they responded. Even though all of our teammates didn't get to participate in the game, it was great to see all the preparation we did as a team help us out," Blake said.
The difference was in the back row.
"We passed very well," Blake said, noting the skills of Alexis Robbins, Kanani Herring and Kristal Tsukano. "We had a very good, balanced match. From 20-20 on in the second game, it was great volleyball."
Kamehameha made adjustments going into Game 3, but luck still has a role. The Warriors rotated to different looks to give their hitters different matchups. That gave the Warriors a big gap in the deciding game.