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Wednesday, October 18, 2000

Kalaheo boys
still perfect in
volleyball

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By Tim Crouse
Special to the Star-Bulletin

A perfect regular season is behind the Kalaheo boys' volleyball team -- and the road toward an Oahu Interscholastic Association championship is straight ahead.

The Mustangs blasted host Farrington last night, 15-9, 15-8, to close out a 9-0 season in the Eastern Division, and end the Governors' postseason hopes.

The first round of the OIATournament for boys and girls is Saturday.

Castle, Roosevelt, Moanalua, McKinley and Kaimuki all advance to the boys' tournament from the East.

Pearl City, the boys' defending league champion, tries to wrap up an unbeaten regular season in the West tonight against Waipahu, which already has clinched a playoff berth.

Leilehua and Waianae have also secured tournament spots in the West.

The top two teams in each division have a bye into the second round, so Kalaheo won't play again until Oct. 28.

Even with the 9-0 record, Kalaheo coach Mel Furtado knows his team has a lot of work to do.

"We're still not clicking on all cylinders," Furtado said. "We made a lot of mental errors tonight, in our serves and ball handling.

"So many times we kill the ball out of bounds, we stop the play, instead of allowing ourselves to play defense," he said. "We still haven't played our best match."

Last night, the Mustangs got off to a slow start, but once they gained momentum, the Governors simply couldn't keep pace.

With the Mustangs trailing 9-6 in the first game, senior Kaimi Guerreiro rocketed a kill for side out, then used his powerful jump serve to guide Kalaheo to six straight points. He served three aces in that run, and finished with five in the match.

Justin Padrina helped the Mustangs close out the game with three kills down the stretch.

Kalaheo jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the second game. In a run of five straight Mustang points with Nicholas Yeager serving, Guerreiro crushed four kills.

Throughout the match, Guerreiro was able to use his jumping ability to soar above the Farrington block. He ended the night with a team-high 12 kills.

"This year he is the best player in the state,"Furtado said. "He was the only junior to make all-state last year, and Ithink that set him up this year (to be recognized as the best player).

"He's definitely the key for how far down the road we travel," Furtado said.

In an earlier match last night, the Farrington girls clinched first place in the East by beating Kalaheo, 15-4, 15-9.

Kahuku, Moanalua, Kaiser, Roosevelt and McKinley also advance to the girls' tournament.

Aiea hosts Radford tonight, with a chance to finish an unbeaten regular season.

The crucial girls' match tonight is between host Pearl City and Waipahu -- with the winner filling the final playoff spot.

Mililani, Radford, Waianae and Leilehua are already in the tournament from the West.