OIA VOLLEYBALL
Moanalua sweeps McKinley in OIA volleyball showdown
Moanalua's balance was too much for McKinley's resilience.
Kaylee Ponce put down a match-high 15 kills and the serving of Na Menehune kept the Tigers off balance in a 25-11, 25-19, 25-22 sweep last night at Moanalua.
OIA VOLLEYBALL |
Red east |
W |
L
|
Kahuku |
5 |
0
|
Moanalua |
3 |
1
|
McKinley |
3 |
1
|
Kalaheo |
2 |
3
|
Farrington |
2 |
2
|
Roosevelt |
0 |
4
|
Kalani |
0 |
4
|
Red West |
W |
L
|
Mililani |
3 |
0
|
Aiea |
3 |
0
|
Pearl City |
3 |
1
|
Radford |
1 |
2
|
Campbell |
1 |
3
|
Waianae |
0 |
2
|
Leilehua |
0 |
3
|
White East |
W |
L
|
Kaiser |
3 |
0
|
Castle |
3 |
0
|
Kailua |
1 |
2
|
Kaimuki |
1 |
2
|
Anuenue |
0 |
3
|
White West |
W |
L
|
Kapolei |
3 |
0
|
Waipahu |
2 |
1
|
Waialua |
1 |
2
|
Nanakuli |
1 |
2
|
Thompson |
0 |
3
|
|
The defending Oahu Interscholastic Association champion, Moanalua (4-1) remained a game behind undefeated Kahuku (5-0) in the Eastern Division with its fourth straight win. McKinley (3-2) fell a game behind Na Menehune into third place.
"We pretty much knew what we had to do and we came in here worrying about playing our game and not what's happening on the other side of the net," said junior Carsen Mata, who had a match-high 22 assists.
Na Menehune's balance was evident as six starters had at least three kills, and reserve outside hitter Mika Mendoza had seven in the third game alone.
Era Iafeta was one of only four Tigers with multiple kills, finishing with seven to lead the team.
"Their ball control remains solid and they're one of the best-coached teams," McKinley coach Chad Giesseman said. "My main concern all year has been our serve receive.
"When we pass the ball well we can compete with any team, but when we don't pass the ball, results like this happen."
Moanalua finished with 12 aces to just one for the Tigers. Four of those came from the arm of Mata, who had three straight in the first game as part of a 6-0 run after Na Menehune fell behind by three.
Ponce and Courtney Calicdan each had four kills in the opening game as Na Menehune scored 25 of the last 33 points.
As the match wore on, McKinley slowly crept closer as it tried to avoid the sweep.
After dropping the second game by six points, the Tigers stood toe-to-toe with Moanalua in Game 3, scoring four straight points at one point to tie the game at 22.
After a timeout by Moanalua, the Tigers put a serve into the net and Mata, who moved from setter to the outside in the third game, put down her third kill to put Moanalua up two. The Tigers then committed their seventh error of the game to end the match.
"Our tough serving was a big factor," said Mata. "We have a bunch of girls that can put it down now and it helps a lot.
"Especially at the end, we had a lot of different girls go on scoring runs for us and that was the difference."
With Mata hitting from the outside in the third game, senior Michelle Hardy took over setting duties and had 12 assists in the game.
Lahela Kaili Laroya balanced out the Moanalua attack with six kills.