Christian Academy captures ILH D3 title over St. Andrew's

The Christian Academy girls volleyball team celebrates after winning the ILH Division III title. CJ Caraang | SL

Christian Academy won its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division III title since 2013 with a four-set win over host St. Andrew's Priory Thursday night.

Freshman outside hitter Sonny Rodrigues had a double-double of 16 kills and 21 digs with six aces and senior setter Rainena Schenbeck Chang did a little bit of everything to help the Patriots outlast the Pride, 17-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-22, at James C. Castle Gymnasium in both team's final game of the regular season.

"It's great because we worked so hard and we had some downfalls, but we then worked hard in practice to come and win this," said Schenbeck Chang, who was a freshman on the last Christian Academy team to win the league crown. "It feels great just being able to start and finish as D3 champs."

The Patriots (9-1) also avenged a three-set loss to St. Andrew's (7-3) on Sept. 20 to clinch a spot in the league's Division II single-elimination postseason tournament.

"We just came together and embraced the moment," said Christian Academy coach Stacy Nishimura. "Sometimes things didn't go our way, but they were able to seize the moment and look for that moment to take control."

Schenbeck Chang, an ILH First Team selection a year ago, backed Rodrigues with a solid all-around game with four kills, six aces, seven digs and 27 assists. Junior middle Khrystyna Kanahele added six kills and two blocks, senior right-side hitter Jessica Tokuda chipped in five kills and senior Kirsten Goeas had three kills, two solo blocks and 12 digs.

Freshman libero Christianne Canoneo recorded a match-high 37 digs and had four aces, Zscharmain Cadiena had five digs and two aces, and Aylssa Tokunaga-Magno added 15 digs to round out the Patriots' contributors.

"We have three seniors that really came through and some freshmen that kept pushing so it's a complete win of the whole team, a complete job," said Nishimura.

Katelyn Kamei put down 10 kills and three aces with 21 digs to lead St. Andrew's. Bailey Gasmen chipped in nine kills and 13 digs, and Liliana Hankins had seven kills, two solo blocks, three aces and three digs to round out the Pride's kill leaders.

Isabella-Marie Geppert, the lone senior on the team, had a team-high 34 digs with four kills and three aces. Freshman setter Kira Terada finished with a match-high 30 assists with 12 digs for St. Andrew's.

After dropping the first set, 25-17, the Patriots responded with a 5-0 run in game two behind the jump serves of Schenbeck Chang, who started the frame with two aces.

"The first game we struggled a little bit with serving, a little inconsistent, but we're a strong serving team so we just told them they just have to serve tough and then we can back them up," said Nishimura. "We have the offense and we just needed to continue to play defense."

The Patriots would go on to tie the match at one game each with a 25-22 win in set two.

Christian Academy outlasted St. Andrew's in a back-and-forth game three, 27-25, to take a key two sets to one lead. A service ace from Cadiena and a St. Andrew's attack that failed to cover helped the Patriots win it in extra points.

"We just had to grind and get one point at a time and stick together, trusting each other," said Nishimura.

The Pride did not go down quietly in the deciding fourth game. St. Andrew's forced ties at 11, 12, 20, 21 and 22 before the Patriots began to pull away. Back-to-back kills from Rodrigues and Tokuda, and a hitting error by Geppert gave Christian Academy the final three points to seal the match.

With her senior season extended, Schenbeck Chang is ready to prove that her team can compete on a higher level.

"We're just ready to compete and show D2 that we can come in from D3 and compete with them."

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].