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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveNovember 2, 2023, 1:46am
Wed, Nov 1, 2023 @ McKinley [ 5:30 pm ]
KAKAAKO — This one was twice as nice for Kanoe Santiago and the Waialua Bulldogs.
Santiago put down 22 kills and came up with 23 digs to help Waialua to its second straight league championship in a thrilling five-set win over Waipahu in a humid McKinley Student Council Gymnasium Wednesday night.
The set scores were 25-21, 25-18, 18-25, 19-25 and 18-16.
A crowd of about 800 fans were on hand to watch the title game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II tournament between the Western Division foes.
The Bulldogs (9-3), the top seed out of the West, notched their fourth straight win and will have won nine of their last 10 matches heading into the state tournament in two weeks.
The West second-seeded Marauders (5-8) saw their three-match winning streak come to an end.
After Waialua took the first two sets, Waipahu answered by taking the next two to force a deciding fifth set.
The Marauders jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set after a kill in the middle by Tiffany Tolentino. They held an 8-5 advantage before the Bulldogs went on a 6-1 run to surge ahead, 11-9. A few points later, Kahlan Soon put down consecutive kills to put Waipahu back ahead, 12-11.
Waialua had four opportunities at match point before it finally converted.
After the Marauders tied it at 16 with a Tolentino kill, Kailia Phillips put the Bulldogs back ahead with a seam shot through a block on the left side. On match point, setter Brynn Basilio-Chun went back to Phillips, whose attack went off the top of the net and down between a trio of Waipahu players to ignite the Waialua celebration.
"During the timeout coach Bronson talked to us, saying that we have to do this for the seniors, we have to do this to take back the championship and we had that motivation and it obviously showed on the court," said Santiago, a senior outside hitter.
Santiago said that fatigue was part of the factor into the drop off that the Bulldogs experienced in sets 3 and 4.
"It was kind of, like, the mindset and we were kind of exhausted in that third and fourth set, but we picked it up in that fifth set and we made it happen," Santiago said.
Ultimately, Santiago said, she and her teammates had to dig deep to fend off the pesky Marauders in set 5.
"Since it's my senior year, I was like, ‘I have to keep pushing, I have to do this for my team and for my last year,' and we kind of struggled in the beginning but we pulled through in the end and that's all that matters," Santiago said. "It feels good. As a senior I'm just glad that I'm leaving behind a legacy."
Phillips recorded 20 kills and 11 digs for Waialua. Basilio-Chun tallied 30 assists and 14 digs, Bailey Menor came up with a team-high 23 digs and the middle blocker-duo of Marcella Beschen and Chloe McKee combined for seven blocks in the win.
Wednesday's match was the second time that the teams faced off this year. Waialua edged out Waipahu back on Oct. 11, in another five-set marathon.
Waialua coach Bronson Chun expressed pride in his bunch for defending its title.
"It's always tough to defend it, it's always hard to hold onto it, but it meant a lot to these girls," Chun said. "We've got seven seniors on the team, they came out to play. We knew it was gonna be a battle against Waipahu, they're no slouch, kudos to them, they're a damn good team but we came alive when we needed to, we stayed disciplined and I can't be more proud of them."
Waipahu was seeking just its second OIA championship and first since 1975.
The New City Nissan/HHSAA Division II State Championship bracket was revealed late Wednesday. Waialua is seeded second by Interscholastic League of Honolulu-winner Mid-Pacific and will take on either Damien or Kau in Wednesday's quarterfinal round.
The Owls will play the Maui Prep-Waipahu winner, while fourth-seeded Hawaii Prep will meet either Hawaii Baptist or Kapaa and third-seeded Seabury Hall will face the Konawaena-University Lab winner in the other quarterfinal matchups.
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