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Spencer Honda | ScoringLiveSeptember 25, 2019, 2:30pm
Tue, Sep 24, 2019 @ McKinley [ 7:00 pm ]
KAKAAKO — If this game was played a year ago, it'd be an easy 2-0 sweep for the Mustangs, but this season's change to a five-set format for all Oahu Interscholastic Association matches allowed McKinley to roar back to top Kalaheo in five sets: 16-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 18-16 Tuesday night at the Tigers' home gym.
The fifth and deciding set was back and forth with 12 ties and the lead never surpassed more than two points.
Kalaheo had the chance to put the game away after going up 14-13 on Kylie Wolff's 11th kill of the match, but Arianna Llamas came up with three digs on the ensuing rally and then set a cross-court pass for Jada Dias to slam a kill down and tie it up again.
McKinley later had a chance to put it away themselves, but Kalaheo's Elle Foehr nabbed her match-high 22nd kill to make it 15-15.
After trading points, The Tigers finally ended the match on Victoria Tamanika's team-high 15th kill and then a Kalaheo hitting error to take it 18-16.
It was another big win for McKinley (5-3) as it took down the No. 3 team in the OIA East off the heels of beating No. 4 Kaiser (6-3) last week.
"I always tell them that no matter what, I have faith in them," McKinley coach Mathew Charles said. "They can do it but it's just a matter of them wanting to do it. That's basically what I was worried about is just if they wanted it."
It was a shared team effort as Tamanika and Dias led McKinley with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Dias also had 17 digs to go along with three other players totaling double digits: Atiyona Mose (20), Llamas (10) and Felicity Tuitele (11). Three players also racked up double-digit assists with Llamas' 18, Tuitele's 13 and Alyssa Martin's 12.
"I'm a playful type of coach. A lot of times it rubs off on the girls and they play around and they're not focusing. I tell them it's ok to enjoy but when you play around, you're not focused. So enjoy and focus so you still can maintain that high level of play at all times," Charles said.
The match started out in McKinley's favor, going up 5-1, before Kalaheo reeled off 10 of the next 12 points and later added a five-point run to cruise to a 25-16 victory in set No. 1.
Set No. 2 was closer with it knotted up at 15-15, but the Mustangs again went on a 5-0 run and maintained that lead to a 25-20 win.
The third set was another close one with the score tied as high as 19-19, but it was all part of a McKinley rally that saw the Tigers score 10 of the last 13 points to take the set and start the comeback.
Set No. 4 saw the Tigers go on an 8-0 run that fueled them from a 10-14 deficit to a 25-19 win.
While the format change just requires an additional set to win the match, it's also affected the way many coaches have had to prepare their teams.
"I love it because more experience for the girls," Charles said. "Conditioning-wise, I had to change my practices because the past few years was more about system and technique and control, and now we have to throw in that physical aspect of conditioning and make them run more and they cry when I make them run."
For Kalaheo (6-3), it was the third straight loss after going the better half of the season undefeated.
Mustangs freshman Faith Fujiwara chipped in double-digit kills with 11 while Kamele Kai dished out 28 assists. Jaden Fox was also a force in the middle as she totalled six blocks — four of them solo.
McKinley now moves ahead of Kalani (5-4) for the top spot in the OIA East Division II standings.
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