OIA Girls Volleyball
Moanalua tops Kaiser in straight sets to win East


   



Thu, Sep 29, 2011 @ Moanalua [ 6:30 pm ]


 1   2   3   4   5      
KAIS (13-5) 16 13 0 - - 0
MOA (16-3) 25 25 0 - - 2
Kill: E. Perez (MOA) 5 kills
Blk: D. Smith (MOA) 3 blk

Moanalua turned last night's girls volleyball showdown between O'ahu Interscholastic Association unbeatens into a quick sweep of Kaiser, 25-16, 25-13.

Na Menehune finished the regular season at 10-0 and will be the OIA Eastern Division's No. 1 seed entering next week's league playoffs. The Cougars (9-1) will be the East's No. 2 seed.

Last night's match, played before a Senior Night crowd of about 800 at Moanalua, started out close but Na Menehune took control behind seven straight service points -- including two aces -- by Ashley Johnson that put Moanalua up, 14-6.

Kaiser finally broke the string with a kill by Annika Rigterink, but the Cougars could not get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Na Menehune jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set, again behind some tough serving. Kaiser got as close as 12-8, but Moanalua responded with an 8-1 run to make it 20-9 and won going away.

"Our girls played with a lot of energy tonight," Na Menehune coach Tommy Lake said. "Usually we're more of a defense/counter-punch type of team, but we're not as small as we were last year, so that helps quite a bit. And AJ (Johnson) is a defensive specialist, but her serve was huge tonight and that's what got us that separation in the first set. She did a super good job."

Cougars coach Ernest Noborikawa said his team's problems with serve-receive proved costly.

"Our passing broke down completely," Noborikawa said. "Moanalua is well-balanced, and they run a quick offense. We played in this same kind of atmosphere at Kahuku (and won, 27-25, 25-20), so I thought we'd be ready. But Moanalua is tough no matter where you play them."

Erin Perez led Na Menehune with five kills, Katiana Ponce added three kills and four aces and Analise Austin contributed three kills and two blocks.

Courtney Phillips led Kaiser with three kills and Rigterink and Haley Durham each added two kills.





Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

All state baseball, softball games postponed due to inclement weather

Baseball set to resume at 10 a.m. back at Les Murakami Friday; Softball semifinals scheduled for 10 a.m....

Top-seeded Warriors blank Chargers

Kainoa Kaneshiro threw five innings of three-hit ball to lead the defending state champs past OIA fifth-place...

Crusaders clutch in hitting, fielding and pitching in quarterfinal win

Saint Louis rallies from 4-0 deficit to turn back Kailua, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals.

Big inning aids No. 3 Maui to victory against No. 8 Waiakea

The Sabers sent 11 batters up in a five-run third inning to take down the Warriors.

Small ball goes long way in No. 4 Baldwin's win over No. 7 Hilo

The Bears endured two delays en route to its 5-4 win against the Vikings in the quarterfinals.

Kamehameha batters Leilehua to face Baldwin in semis

The Warriors raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning and led 11-0 after three to rout the Mules in...