The battle of the ‘Riders was won behind the service line.

Kailua got an ace from freshman setter Siani Yamaguchi to put away Roosevelt in each set of a 25-23, 25-15 match on Thursday night at the Surfriders’ gym.

"I was looking for pukas where I could find and catch them," Yamaguchi said.

Catch the Rough Riders she did, with a spinning cross-court serve from right to left to tag the farthest corner both times.

Kailua (5-2), of the Oahu Interscholastic Association White division (D-II), notched its second win against a Red division (D-I) team this season.

"It’s a great feeling," Kailua coach Mani Taufa‘asau said. "We’ve been working really hard with our defense. Offensively, we’re there. We knew we’d face a tough challenge with Roosevelt, so we prepared ourselves for that."

Kailua’s coaches signaled from the bench where they wanted their players to serve, and it worked to great effect in Game 2. Roosevelt struggled to initiate its offense, falling behind 19-11 on an errant pass putdown by Kapili Albinio.

The Rough Riders were coming off straight-sets losses to OIA powerhouses Moanalua and Kahuku. They absorbed their fourth loss of league play.

Roosevelt coach Puna Velasco chalked up the loss to passing errors, of which there were many in Game 2.

"We actually forced ourselves to do things we don’t normally do," he said. "Credit to Kailua, they put us in that position. … (For us) it’s gut-check time. We can’t help the way the schedule was made up. We just have to press on."

Kailua, meanwhile, has won five of six. That’s thanks in large part to the 5-foot-2 Yamaguchi, who, after an upperclassman’s injury, was handed the keys to the Surfriders offense in her first year of high school. She’s clearly grown into the job, and on this night had 19 assists and three aces. Her favorite target was junior hitter Keala Kaio-Perez, who put down a match-high eight kills. Raelynn Leong and Shaeanijanee Naihe added four kills apiece.

Kailua went on a 4-0 run in Game 1 to square it at 18, forcing a Roosevelt timeout. From there the teams tied five more times before Naihe put down a kill off the block and Yamaguchi followed with her crosscourt ace to take the frame.

Senior middle Alida Holt led the Rough Riders with six kills.