[ HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL ]
Kalani girls qualify
for state volleyball
Kalani's season flashed before its eyes yesterday evening at McKinley, where feisty Farrington extended the Falcons to three games in their Oahu Interscholastic Association quarterfinal matchup. But to hear the Falcons tell it, they never blinked, although they were hard-pressed to deliver the knockout punch.
"We have a lot of confidence in ourselves, so I thought we could pull through," said Kalani middle blocker Keri Hee, after the Falcons escaped with a 25-16, 20-25, 15-12 victory.
After dropping Game 1, Farrington (7-5) regrouped in a big way and had all of the momentum heading into the decisive Game 3 after drawing even in the second set in dominating fashion.
"They had to suck it up at the end of the game because I think we lost focus," Kalani coach Aven Lee said.
With the win, the Falcons (11-0) remained undefeated and, more importantly, punched their ticket for the upcoming state volleyball tournament, which will take place Nov. 11-14. First up, the Falcons meet defending state and two-time defending OIA champion Kahuku in a conference semifinal match Saturday at McKinley. The OIA championship game is set for Nov. 6 at Mililani.
"This is the game that mattered most to me," Lee said. "It's the game that gets us to the state tournament. If anything, this was not the game I wanted to lose. The girls know where they want to be at the end. They want to be in the OIA finals and the state championship (match)."
Tamari Miyashiro led Kalani with a match-high 21 kills, three of which helped the Falcons to a 6-2 lead in Game 3. But while the opening moments of Game 3 may have set the tone for the finish, Farrington fought back to trim an 11-6 deficit to 11-9, on a block by Anna Crichton (five kills, two aces), a service ace from Latasha Chancheck and an error by Kalani.
A kill by Miyashiro completed a 3-0 Falcon run and made it 14-9, but Sunshine Uli brought Farrington back yet again with a kill, a block on Miyashiro and a kill through the block. Miyashiro returned the favor seconds later, however, delivering a kill off the block of Uli and Matalasi Taua'a to close out the match.
