No. 10 Kapolei sweeps Waianae, 25-20, 25-16

Kapolei junior setter Olivia Transfiguracion puts up a set during the second set of an OIA West match against Waianae. Michael Lasquero | SL

KAPOLEI - Setter Olivia Transfiguracion is like a thermometer on Kapolei's volleyball team: she knows who has the hot hand.

Transfiguracion registered 20 assists and the No. 10 Hurricanes swept visiting Waianae, 25-20, 25-16, to remain on top of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division.

The Hurricanes (8-0) can clinch the division's top seed for the OIA Division I tournament with a win Wednesday at Waialua. By beating the Seariders (6-2) and Mililani (8-1), Kapolei has the head-to-head tiebreakers on its two closest opponents in the division.

Transfiguracion distributed the ball pretty evenly with her teammates. Alexis Mareko had eight kills and Anela Pakaki-Pias added seven to lead the Hurricanes' attack. Michelyn Pililaau and Tihani Guzman had five and four kills, respectively.

"She's gotten really good about sensing who's on and when and what to do," Kapolei coach Naidah Gamurot said of her junior setter. "The girls talk about it on the court, too, and they'll give her suggestions, but ultimately, she makes the suggestion."

Transfiguracion has been the starting setter since her freshman year.

"She's good about sensing the court. This is her third year she's set with them, so she had a good feel about them. She's just smart," said Gamurot.

Transfiguracion was a little modest of her performance

"I didn't play club (in the offseason) this year so I'm still getting the hang of it," Transfiguracion said of her setting. "I'm kind of working on it, still."

Her distribution, though, says it all.

"I just look for the hot hitter," she said. "That's what my coach tells me. Everybody's good, but sometimes we have our off-days, so she says just look for the hot hitter."

It wasn't easy at the outset for Kapolei, which trailed 11-5 in the first set before a service error by Acazia Tolentino-McCabe made it 11-6 and sideout to the Hurricanes. With Pakaki-Pias serving, the Hurricanes scored five consecutive points to tie the set at 11. Waianae regained the lead at 12-11 but the set tied five times, the last at 20, before Kapolei closed out Waianae with five unanswered points with Pakaki-Pias serving.

"I think we stayed as one team," Transfiguracion said of outlasting the Seariders in the first set. "We didn't come apart or anything. We just kept pushing and trying to focus on what we had to do."

"They were more aggressive, taking more risks," Waianae coach Wilhelm Wagner said of Kapolei.

The second set was dominated by the Hurricanes, which never trailed.

Kapolei recorded seven aces, three by Pakaki-Pias.

"(Our) passing was a little off, setting choices were bad, hitting, everyone was trying to overpower the ball," Wagner said.

Jasmine Fonoti had five kills and three total blocks to lead the Seariders in the loss.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].