Satele provides final push as Word of Life ousts host

A versatile offense is all well and good -- but when the match was on the line, the source of Word of Life's onslaught was never in doubt.

Division II Schedule At McKinley/Radford YESTERDAY At Radford Match 1: Waimea def. Hawaii Prep 25-17, 25-20 2: Molokai def. Honokaa 25-20, 25-22 At McKinley 3: Castle def. University 18-25, 25-22, 25-19 4: Word of Life def. McKinley 25-20, 25-19 TODAY At Radford 5: Hawaii Prep vs. Honokaa, 4:30 p.m. 7: Farrington vs. Molokai, 6 p.m. 8: Hawaii Baptist vs. Waimea, 7:30 p.m. At McKinley 6: University vs. McKinley, 4:30 p.m. 9: Seabury Hall vs. Castle, 6 p.m. 10: Hilo vs. Word of Life, 7:30 p.m. TOMORROW At Radford 11: L-8 vs. L-9, 6 p.m., at Radford 13: W-8 vs. W-7, 7:30 p.m., at Radford At McKinley 12: L-9 vs. L-10, 6 p.m., at McKinley 14: W-9 vs. W-10, 7:30 p.m., at McKinley.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up got its last five points off power kills from Chanteal Satele and pulled away for a 25-20, 25-19 opening-round victory over tournament host McKinley in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division II Girls State Championships.

Satele had 14 kills and junior hitter Crystal Powell helped establish a balanced attack early with 11 to help boost Word of Life (13-6) to a quarterfinal match against third-seeded Hilo today.

The Firebrands stole the breath from home fans at Student Council Gym with a 10-0 run in Game 1, turning a 6-11 deficit into a 16-11 advantage behind two aces from setter Rayane Alvarado. McKinley (14-3), the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Division runner-up, had four attack errors over that span, and Firebrands middle blocker Janna Kaupuiki sewed up the game by stuffing Tiger attacks on consecutive points. McKinley was held to just five kills in Game 1.

"Our ball control has been our strength all year, but I think we broke down a lot," McKinley coach Chad Giesseman said. "I give Word of Life credit; we were having a lot of trouble with their serves."

Satele played solid defense from the back row for much of the match, but when the Tigers (14-3) pulled within 20-18 and threatened to force a third and deciding game, Satele wasn't having any of it.

"(I was thinking) just finish it," Satele said. "We played as one tonight and that's how we came through."

Giesseman knew it was only a matter of time before the Firebrands' star got going.

"We told (our girls) before the match that Chanteal was probably going to get her kills, some unbelievable," he said.

Coach LeeAnn Satele considers Powell her "X-factor," and the variable seemed to strike from all angles to keep the Tigers' block honest. She pounded five kills during a 6-2 run in Game 2, putting the Firebrands up 13-8 before Satele took things over.

"I think we all worked well and together as a team," Powell said. "We've been putting time in on our defense, and it's been working."

Word of Life saw Hilo (15-1) in the Vikings' preseason tournament, and was victorious. But coach Satele knows to expect a totally different squad from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champions.

"We had fun against them. Of course, we're expecting a better team," the coach said. "Just like how we've worked hard, we know that they've worked hard."