Kamehameha falls to La Costa in Durango quarters


LAS VEGAS -- La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.) swept Kamehameha 27-25, 25-23 today in the quarterfinals of the 48-team Durango Fall Classic.

The Warriors, who went 3-0 in yesterday's pool play, fell into the fifth-place bracket with two more matches this afternoon.

Kamehameha led the first set 23-21 and served for game point at 24-23 and 25-24, but the Mavericks' Natalie Bausback tied it at 25-25 with a kill and La Costa Canyon took the next two points on hitting errors by the Warriors. On set point, Brittany Kalepa hit a spike that appeared to go off a block and out, but no touch was called.

Kamehameha rallied from a 22-19 second-set deficit and tied it at 23-23 after Kalepa's kill and a solo block by Alohi Robins-Hardy, but the Warriors' next hit went into the net and Bausback and Brittany Abercrombie ended it with a double block for La Costa Canyon.

"They're a good team, they're big and they play great defense," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "That's why we came up (to Las Vegas) -- we don't see a lot of these kind of teams back home. But I'm happy with how we played. We're playing steadier, and if we can keep playing steady, we'll be all right."

Robins-Hardy led the Warriors with seven kills, one block and one ace, and Kalepa added six kills and two blocks. Pikake Laumauna and Misty Ma'a each added three kills and one block, but Ma'a injured her wrist after diving for a loose ball midway through the second set and did not return.

Haley Pa'akaula contributed two kills and three blocks.

In earlier action, Kamehameha defeated Notre Dame (Park Hills, Ky.) in three sets, 25-22, rn20-25, 25-20, in the first round of the championship bracket at the rnDurango Fall Classic at Durango High School in Las Vegas.

Misty Ma'a put down 9 kills and Damianna Alohi Robins-Hardy rnadded 8 kills and 4 blocks to lead Kamehameha in the win over Notre rnDame. Also contributing were Pikake Laumauna (6 kills, 4 blocks), Haley rnPa'akaula (3 kills), Brittany Kalepa (2 kills, 3 blocks), Faith Ma'afalarn (1 kill, 1 ace), and Amanda Wasco (1 kill, 1 ace).