Chargers overwhelm Lady Rams in Red West

The Chargers were simply overwhelming in sweeping Radford 25-16, 25-16, 25-22 in Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West volleyball last night before 400 fans at Jim Alegre Gymnasium.

Nicole Boyer, Tiana Inong and Marie Fujii each pounded eight kills as Pearl City improved to 2-0 in the conference.

The Chargers stunned the Rams with a balanced attack that came from all angles. Five Chargers tallied at least five kills, and setter Matala Keiki added 25 assists.

"We work hard on our offense at practice. Tonight, things started to click against one of the better teams we'll play," Pearl City coach Stephanie Shigemasa said. "Radford's a good team. We didn't want to let them back in."

It was a turnaround from three weeks ago, when Radford swept Pearl City in consolation pool play at the Ann Kang Invitational.

Kaeli Patton led Radford (1-1) with eight kills and three aces. The Rams struggled early, perhaps a bit nervous in their first home match after a fairly successful preseason. Radford hit .063 in the first set and .000 in the second.

"They (the Rams) have their fans, friends and family that are finally here. When they didn't have that (early) success, they had a hard time," Radford coach Kahala Kabalis said. "They just need to learn to bounce back. That's what volleyball is, a game of mistakes and being resilient."

Radford had a size advantage at the net, but Pearl City paid no heed and hit .464 in the opening set. Down 4-3, the Chargers went on a 13-5 run to take control.

Boyer, a 5-foot-7 junior, had five kills down the middle.

"She did a good job attacking and a good job blocking," Shigemasa said.

Inong gave the Chargers balance by knocking down seven of her kills from the right side. She had consecutive kills to spark a 6-0 run early in the second set.

Patton drilled two kills and back-to-back aces to bring the Lady Rams within 18-14, but Pearl City closed out the set with a 7-2 run.

Radford took a 4-1 lead to start the third set, but Pearl City answered with an 11-1 blitz. The Rams hit .500 in the set and had four aces, but four service errors and three violations robbed them of any sustained momentum.

They were within 20-17 when a hitting error and a net violation gave Pearl City a five-point lead. Mama Fiaseu brought Radford within 24-20 with two aces, but her next serve sailed wide left to end the match.

Sophomore Tabytha Inong and Tonisha Buford added five kills each for Pearl City. Buford had two aces.

Pearl City, which has just two seniors, drew plenty of attention when it split two pool-play sets with Punahou. The Chargers will host No. 10 Mililani tomorrow.

Radford has the rest of the week off.