OIA Boys Volleyball
Castle needs five sets to turn back Roosevelt


ScoringLive staff
March 31, 2023, 11:31pm

  


Fri, Mar 31, 2023 @ Castle [ 6:00 pm ]

Roosevelt

2

Castle

3

FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
ROOS (12-5) 22 21 25 25 16 2
CAST (8-4) 25 25 21 10 18 3
Kill: J. Yadao (ROOS) 18 kills
Blk: D. Lieu (ROOS) 5 blk
Ast: D. Lieu (ROOS) 56 ast

Same script, different ending.

Castle improved to 6-2 in OIA East play with a 25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 10-25, 18-16 win over Roosevelt, atoning for a five-set loss just two days earlier to Kahuku.

Aukanali Arcala had 16 kills and two blocks and Cody Pili-Rumusod added eight kills, three blocks, an ace and 31 assists to help lead the way for the Knights, who overcame big numbers by the Rough Riders' Jonathan Yadao (18 kills, ace), Ford Lyons (15 kills, two blocks, ace) and Danny Lieu (four kills, five blocks, two aces, 56 assists).

For the second time in as many matches, Castle built a 2-0 lead, then lost sets three and four to force a winner-take-all fifth. But while the 18-16 score was a carbon copy of what the count was against the Red Raiders in the final set, this time things went the way of the Knights.

"We talked a lot about that game," said Pili-Rumusod of the Kahuku loss. "Even during the game we were like we do not want to lose again in the fifth set, so we really took it to heart."

Roosevelt led 9-6 on a Lyons kill, but Castle turned the tide on a big block by Malae Tini and Hayden Broadbent to give the home team the lead for the first time in the set at 11-10.

The lead see-sawed back and forth from there.

Trace Nakaahiki put down his eighth kill to get the Rough Riders to match point, only see the Knights tie the game up on a Pili-Rumusod kill followed up by a huge tandem block by Pili-Rumusod and Noah Kaneshiro-Pate.

A ball hit long gave Roosevelt another chance at the match, but Arcala atoned for a hitting miscue on the point prior with a kill that knotted things up at again at 15.

That sent Pili-Rumusod to the service line, where his line drive serve was mishandled for a critical ace, setting up a match point chance for the home team, but his next serve was unsucessful, knotting the score again.

The final two points were both off the arm of Arcala, who closed out the game with back-to-back kills, both assisted by Pili-Rumusod, to end it.

Arcala was huge in the fifth, putting down five big kills after being taken out of the rotation after some hitting struggles in the fourth set, but it was clear that when the Knights needed a big point down the stretch, the ball was likely headed in Arcala's direction.

"My team just fought me back into it," said Arcala coming back after his struggles in the fourth. "I was down on myself but they brought me back."

Set four saw the Rough Riders 12 straight points, part of a 20-3 scoring run, in a runaway win to force a final frame, and the Rough Riders actually logged more kills (64 to 45) and aces (5 to 3) than the Knights, but the home team just seemed to find a way when it mattered most.

"It was amazing to get this win, we really pushed through to get this one," said Pili-Rumusod. "But we haven't really been focusing on the wins, we've been having fun all year, which I think causes us to get the wins."




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