Kapolei serves up straight set win over Radford

Kapolei's Tali Coleman puts up a block on Radford's Chevy Villanueva attack. CJ Caraang | SL

ALIAMANU — Kapolei had an ace up its sleeve — well nine to be exact — in its 25-10, 25-9 win over Radford Tuesday night.

The visiting Hurricanes improved to 6-3 in Oahu Interscholastic Association West Division play behind a strong serving performance. Radford dropped to 3-6 in league play.

Middle Tali Coleman and setter Ralston Viela led the way with three aces each. Coleman had two straight aces to close out the opening set and Viela had two in a 9-0 run to start the second frame.

"Our serving has been consistent as well as our defense," said Kapolei coach Moani Nahulu-Mahelona. "It's exactly what we said we wanted to do today: hard serves and strong defense on the net."

Coleman had an all around performance with four kills, seven digs and one block. Viela dished out 11 assists and had two dumps. Naliko Kea and Stanton Coen led the Hurricanes in kills with five each. Randon Ruiz added two kills and a block, Ezra Moo had two kills and defensive specialist Cody Kahunahuna had seven digs.

"They all stepped up to the plate," said Nahulu-Mahelona.

Leading Radford in the loss was 5-foot-11 senior Raemart Laigo with three kills and four digs. Setter Jeremy Rubiio added two kills, three digs and five assists.

Kapolei will host Mililani (7-1) in its regular season finale Thursday while Radford will have a week off before a road game at Aiea (2-6).

"This win was enormous for us," said Nahulu-Mahelona. "Their motivation has got them to the next level. They're finally starting to gel now."

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].