HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL
Roosevelt upsets Kalaheo
The last time the Kalaheo boys volleyball team dropped a regular-season Oahu Interscholastic Association match was Sept. 23, 2003.
But last night, behind aggressive serving and thundering kills, No. 6 Roosevelt finally broke the third-ranked Mustangs' conference streak with a 25-23, 25-21 win at McKinley's Student Council Gym.
With a match-high nine kills, junior Kaina Palama helped the Rough Riders avenge a three-game loss to the Mustangs earlier this season. The win also shot Roosevelt into a tie with Kalaheo atop the OIA East standings, both with an 8-1 mark.
Despite playing with a significant height disadvantage, the Rough Riders used their strength and speed to pound balls off the big Mustang block.
"Obviously, we don't have size on them, so we try to pass it well so we can get the hitters one-on-one," Roosevelt outside hitter Jordan Murakami said. "We're not as tall, but if we get a one-on-one, we play like we're a bigger team."
The Rough Riders took the early lead with a four-point run. Murakami notched two aces in the first game, helping Roosevelt cause passing and setting problems for the Mustangs.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Bryce Kozaki of Roosevelt went up for a block against Tyler Caswell of Kalaheo last night.
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"They sat back, they went for it, and they didn't miss much," Kalaheo coach Gavin Cook said of the Roosevelt servers. "They outscrapped us too ... and it seemed like they were fighting a little harder than we were.
"Maybe we relaxed a little bit, which you can't do. They're just a really good team. They definitely outplayed us tonight."
Freshman Joby Ramos also added two of the Rough Riders' five aces in the match.
Kalaheo All-State middle Tyler Caswell helped bring the Mustangs back into the game, tapping down an overpassed dig into an open spot in the frontcourt to tie the game at 19.
"We could never get a (large) lead, four points at the most," Cook said. "They just kept fighting. It seems like we were always a couple of points behind."
Facing a two-point deficit as the two teams neared the 20s, Roosevelt crept back into the game, taking the lead on an attack error by Mustang setter Christian Kepa. The sophomore tried to backwards-dump a pass that was near the net, sending the ball wide.
"Passing is always key," Cook said. "If you can't pass the ball, you can't use all this height that we've got."
"I think Kalaheo made a little bit more errors than they usually do, so that helped us in our favor," Roosevelt coach Kaui Mendonca said.
The Roosevelt faithful created a loud buzz as the Rough Riders closed in on the second game, keeping a four-point advantage throughout the late points. But the Rough Riders didn't let up, sealing the upset with a kill by Shaw Richardson.
"We could be up 20-15 and they could come back easily with five straight points," Murakami said. "We just kept playing hard, from start to finish."