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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveOctober 14, 2022, 6:00am
Thu, Oct 13, 2022 @ Mililani [ 5:30 pm ]
MILILANI — Malinah Purcell-Telefoni recorded 15 kills and Kaitlin Kiko tallied a match-high 25 digs to lead unranked Kapolei to an upset of eighth-ranked Moanalua in a thrilling five-set match Thursday night.
The Hurricanes rallied to the 15-25, 25-21, 31-29, 25-22, 18-16 win over Na Menehune in a quarterfinal of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament before a crowd of about 350 fans at Mililani High School gymnasium.
With the win, Kapolei (10-2) punched its ticket to the New City Nissan/HHSAA State Championships in two weeks. It will face No. 9 Mililani, which defeated Kalani in the late quarterfinal, in Monday's semifinal round at 7:30 p.m. at Moanalua.
"This is my first time (to states) and it's pretty big to be in," said Purcell-Telefoni, a 5-foot-10 junior middle blocker/outside hitter.
Purcell-Telefoni took 42 total swings and hit .214 for the match. She also registered five digs, four service aces and six blocks, including two solo stuffs.
"It feels great and I got a little emotional with the hard work that the girls put in and the sacrifice they made to come this far," she added.
The West third-seeded Hurricanes also benefitted from big-time contributions in the back row from Henua Moefu (13 digs) and Shayla Lacamiento (12 digs), who also notched 32 assists.
But things didn't look very promising for Kapolei early on. Moanalua went on an 11-3 run during the opening set and went on to pull away, 25-15. Moanalua recorded a .438 hitting percentage (17 kills and three errors on 32 total attempts) in set 1.
However, the ‘Canes capped a 7-1 run with an ace by Lacamiento to take a 17-15 lead in set 2. Na Menehune tied it at 20 on a Malu Garcia kill, but Purcell-Telefoni spurred a 5-1 run to close out set 2 with a kill out of the middle. Marley Hartley's ace, one of three she had for the match, finished off set 2 to even the match at one set apiece.
The teams traded blows in set 3. Moanalua had a 24-20 lead, but saw Kapolei reel off five straight points to pull ahead. Later in the set, a Kapolei service error put Moanalua ahead, 30-29, and on set point, Anya Gant put away the kill, off an assist from Haylee Deponte.
Kapolei held a 10-6 lead in set 4 after a kill by Moefu from the left side. Moanalua eventually pulled to within 24-22 after one of Sadie Aiana's five kills on the night, but an attack error by the Menes evened the match at two sets apiece.
The Hurricanes jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the fifth set. Na Menehune later used a 9-3 run to tie it at 14 after a Garcia kill from the left side — one of her seven in the final set.
Kapolei edged back ahead after Kiko laid out for a stellar dig, that led to a Hartley kill from the left side, off an assist from Lacamiento. However, Garcia answered with back-to-back tip kills from the left side to push Moanalua in front, 16-15. After a timeout by the ‘Canes, Moanalua was called for four contacts to tie it once more. On the very next play, Purcell-Telefoni and Moefu teamed up on a key double-block on Garcia to set-up match point.
"Everyone knows Malu so we already knew that thing was coming," Kapolei coach Naida Gamurot said.
"All season we had to work on that because we knew that we might have a problem on some of the blocking, so we kind of switched up how we normally do it and it's finally starting to click," she added. "So we have a system; it's not a usual system, but it worked."
It was one of Kapolei's two blocks in the fifth set and one of its 11 for the match.
"It was really good. Malu is a really good outside hitter and she's just a good player in general and I don't know, we just worked hard as a team and that's all I gotta say," Purcell-Telefoni said.
"I don't think we were thinking underdog or not, we were just thinking — you know, you hear the cliche, ‘play your own game' — but each individual had to do that and that was one thing that we learned this season, is that playing as an individual made us play as a team," Gamurot said.
Gamurot pointed out that her squad made a number of adjustments over the course of the match, but Purcell-Telefoni said it was more of a mental adjustment after set 1.
"Yeah, first set were were a little bit rough. We got together as a team and just had to boost up the energy and put it on the court and I think that with all of the hard work that we've put in during practice, that's what we did on the court tonight, was work hard, never let any ball drop and just refuse to lose," Purcell-Telefoni said.
Gamurot noted that the ‘Canes went from a 6-2 attack to a 5-1 look and back to the a 6-2 offense as the season has played out.
"We were changing lineups every other match and actually changed the lineup for the very first set, but then we realized we've all changed so much that we can do this so that was great. We did it roller coaster (style), which is what we've done all year … so when we give up a couple points, it's like, ‘Oh, we've been there before,' you know and then we come back, so they've developed confidence in themselves but we did need some really tough competition and this was the toughest competition we've had all season, by far, so it's good because they had to dig deep and they did," Gamurot explained.
Garcia finished with a match-high 28 kills on 69 total swings. She also had 15 digs, as did libero Kyra Pagud. Gant, Hokulani Perez and Jerney Tang-Silva added seven kills apiece for Na Menehune, who totaled 18 team blocks. Jayde Taamu Perifanos accumulated 24 assists and six digs and Deportee chipped in with 17 assists, seven digs and a kill.
Moanalua (9-2), the No. 2 seed out of the Eastern Division, had a first-round bye Wednesday and had not dropped a set since Sept. 21. It saw its eight-game win streak come to an end Thursday, but it can still secure a spot in the state tournament with a win over Kalani in a consolation match Monday at Farrington's Richard Kitamura Gymnasium.
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