A landmark victory has the Kaiser girls volleyball team thinking big.
The fifth-ranked Cougars were light on flash and smash but came through when it mattered in stunning No. 4 Kahuku 27-25, 25-20 Thursday night on the North Shore.
Kaiser (9-0), which won its first Oahu Interscholastic Association title at any level two years ago in the OIA White, has the look of a first-time Red contender after knocking off the defending division champs in hostile territory.
Kilaulani released from hospital
Leilehua outside hitter Kayla Kilaulani has recovered quickly after suffering a head injury on Wednesday night during a volleyball match at Aiea.
Kilaulani was scheduled to be released from The Queen’s Medical Center on Thursday, according to Leilehua athletic director James Toyota.
“She’s doing much better. I spoke with her dad an hour ago and he said they’re supposed to release her,” Toyota said on Thursday afternoon.
During the first set, Kilaulani hustled after a ball out of bounds. She dove and rolled, but the back of her head hit the concrete floor. Though she was injured, Kilaulani was conscious, Toyota said. The sophomore was in serious condition at Queen’s.
Before she was transported to the hospital, both teams gathered together to pray, Aiea coach Erin Okamoto-Coker said. Kilaulani has a cousin on Aiea’s team.
“She said (Kilaulani) is doing better now. She was asking for her cell phone,” Okamoto-Coker said.
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"Kahuku has a tradition. They’ve always been a good team as long as I can remember," Kaiser coach Ernest Noborikawa said. "So, for our girls to come out here and be able to do this, it should give them a big confidence boost."
With the top two teams in both the OIA East and West getting opening-round byes in the OIA tournament, Thursday night’s match was crucial. Three Red East teams — Kaiser, Moanalua and Kahuku — had been head and shoulders above the rest and Kaiser’s victory clinched a top-two seeding for the playoffs.
Kaiser must still play fellow East leader Moanalua on the road next Thursday in a match that will likely decide the East’s top seed.
For now, the Cougars are riding high.
"This is everything. Being undefeated through the season and finishing off one of our biggest games, it’s amazing," said senior middle Haley Durham, who had six kills, four blocks and two aces. "It shows us what potential we have and how great we can actually be as a whole. It shows us that we’re capable of doing a lot."
Fellow middle Annika Rigterink tied for match-high honors with seven kills.
Kaiser came out shaky, but still built up a 22-16 lead. The Cougars nearly gave away Game 1 but got a big go-ahead point by Dominique Chang to make it 26-25. Kahuku followed with an attack error to drop the frame.
The Cougars were numb to the packed Kahuku homecoming crowd and rallied to claim Game 2 after facing an 18-14 deficit.
Kahuku (7-2) even posted a 25-19 advantage in kills, but was doomed by several untimely errors that swung the match for good late in Game 2. A net violation and two wide attack errors helped spur a 5-0 Kaiser run.
Kahuku put down its last point on a kill by Adora Anae to make it 20-all. Then it was all Cougars as middles Durham and Rigterink put down kills, libero Taylor Candelario tossed up an ace and backup hitter Shaina Epstein put down the last two points of the match with kills.
Kahuku coach Kaniela Kalama remained upbeat afterward, saying "we actually did really well today."
"We played them before (in the preseason), so everything that was happening was stuff we were practicing for," Kalama said. "They’re very good. We knew they’d be tough."
