Kapolei edges Waianae in three-set thriller

The Hurricanes celebrate after Kapolei took a 15-14 lead over Waianae in the third set. CJ Caraang | SL

The Kapolei girls volleyball team have grown and matured exponentially since its first loss of the season a week ago.

Kapolei, who has two sophomores and two freshmen in the lineup, moved into second place in the OIA Division I West standings with a thrilling 25-22, 19-25, 16-14 win over visiting Waianae before a crowd of about 300 Thursday night.

Freshman outside hitter Alizaysha "Toodie" Sopi put down a season-high 16 kills on 35 attempts and senior setter Olivia Transfiguracion had a double-double of 30 assists and 12 digs to help the Hurricanes improve to 6-1.

Kapolei coach Naidah Gamurot was extremely proud of her team's performance against the seventh-ranked Seariders (5-2).

"Last week we looked like a JV team, but they came together as team," she said. "This whole thing was a really good experience for us, especially because all the offense is brand new."

The Hurricanes, reached the OIA final last season, but graduated every single attacker that was in the rotation. The only returning players in the lineup were Transfiguracion, the reigning OIA West Player of the Year, and senior libero Tiffany Mook.

Transfiguracion said they took it upon themselves to lead the young players on the court during the tight moments of the match against Waianae.

"Me and Tiffany as seniors, we realized that we have to take leadership, so we just calmed them down when we were falling apart and we just pulled ourselves together.

"We told them not to play tentative so we just told them just go for all the balls and don't give up."

The Hurricanes trailed for most of the first and second set, but were able to keep up a high-level of play throughout the match to keep up with the Seariders.

"We try to play level," said Gamurot. "In that second set, we didn't roller coaster, which I expect from a new team. We took a little dip when Waianae took a little up, and then it just leveled back out again, which is good."

Cherise Borge and Heipua Tautuaa each had six kills to lead Waianae in the loss.

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].