Dezarae Balbas pounded 10 kills and Leinaala Batalona came through with clutch plays down the stretch as Roosevelt outlasted Radford 25-23, 20-25, 25-17, 24-26, 15-13 last night in the opening round of the OIA Red girls volleyball playoffs.

A tense crowd of 400 at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium saw the Rough Riders overcome Radford's powerful hitters, Kaeli Patton and Bui Baravilala, to advance to the quarterfinals. Roosevelt (4-9) will travel to Kahuku for the next matchup.

“;The kind of mistakes we made, that's not typical of us,”; Roosevelt coach Rudy Sambrano said. “;Radford is basically a sound team. Our girls hung in there and didn't let up. They supported each other to the end.”;

Radford closed the season at 4-9. Patton and Baravilala amassed 19 kills apiece, and Mama Fiaseu was the glue. Fiaseu had 11 kills, 12 assists and three aces for the hot-and-cold Rams.

“;Today was just a big roller coaster,”; Rams coach Kahala Kabalis said of the 2-hour, 5-minute match. “;Even when we won, it wasn't us, not the intensity level we usually had.”;

The long match, Radford's first foray into a fifth set this season, gave the Rough Riders a big advantage. Radford suited up just nine players, and eight saw major minutes.

Roosevelt used a balanced attack and savvy play near the net. Lauren Kunishige and Batalona tallied seven kills each. Batalona added six assists, two aces and two blocks.

Setter Taylor Pupuhi finished with 25 assists, five kills and two aces.

“;It was kind of crazy. I was nervous, really nervous,”; Pupuhi said. “;Radford is really good. They were just pounding.”;

For all that pounding, Radford was flat early on and committed four service errors in the first game. They came back in the second set despite six hitting errors (.233), but seemed to tire a bit in the third game.

Radford hit -.121 as Roosevelt took a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Rams came back to life in the fourth game, hitting .324. Patton, who struggled early, spiked six kills in the set to force a fifth game.

The final set had three lead changes. Back-to-back aces by Batalona gave Roosevelt an 8-6 lead. Radford cut the margin to a single point four more times and was within 13-12 when Batalona came through with a kill from the right side—moments after the Rams had a free ball and had an off-placed set to Baravilala.

A setting error by Roosevelt made it 14-13, but a net violation moments later by Radford ended the match.

Natasha Kolo, who had two key kills and a block in the final set, added five kills in all. Traci Kaneshiro, a left-hander, added four kills.

Radford setter Deashia Yadao finished with 33 assists. The Rams hit .216 for the match and had seven aces, nine service errors and three blocks.

McKinley 3, Waianae 0

The Tigers used a balanced attack and solid defense to sweep the Seariders 25-11, 25-22, 25-21 in the nightcap. Teri Loli and Brenda Walker had nine kills each, while Era Iafeta and Angela So'oalo tallied eight apiece.

Walker and So'oalo also chipped in two aces apiece.

“;This is one of our more steady games, ball-control-wise,”; McKinley coach Chad Giesseman said. “;If we pass like we did tonight, we can do a lot in this tournament.”;

McKinley (8-5) will play at Mililani on Tuesday in a quarterfinal match.

Shaina Pogia had seven kills and four blocks for Waianae, which finished the season 3-10. LaShaun Dela Cruz added five kills, 13 assists and an ace. Garilyn Kaleimamahu added nine assists and two aces.

“;You gotta give it to McKinley. They played well,”; Waianae coach Georgieann Keiki said.

Despite Pogia's 5-foot-10 frame at the net, McKinley hit .368. Waianae hit .158.

Seven hitting errors (-.200) sunk the Seariders in the opening game, but their big block woke up in the second set. Waianae got three blocks and two kills from Pogia to take an 11-6 lead.

With setter Ashley Gravely (38 assists) feeding a variety of teammates, the Tigers rallied and took a 20-19 lead on So'oalo's kill from the right side. That sparked a 6-2 run to end the second game.

Entering the third set, five Tigers had five kills each.

Waianae stayed in range but didn't make a serious run in the third game. Keiki is looking forward to the future.

“;We have nine returning juniors, so the potential is going to be there next year,”; she said.

  Other OIA playoff matches

Farrington def. Campbell, 25-20, 26-24, 25-13

Pearl City def. Kalaheo, 25-11, 21-25, 25-18, 25-12