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There’s a "V" involved with Hawaii Baptist girls volleyball, and it’s not just about victories.
The Eagles demonstrated will and endurance, as usual, to outlast University 25-21, 20-25, 26-24, 25-21 on Tuesday night in a second-place tiebreaker match at HBA’s Dan Liu Gymnasium.
Tiana Limoz led HBA with 18 kills and added two aces. Middle Kanoelani Yadao tallied 12 kills and three blocks, while Ashley Young and Jolie Ayabe chipped in six kills each, and Megan Horita dished out 28 assists.
HBA (12-3) earned a berth in the Division II state tournament for a sixth year in a row. University (9-6) is still alive in the hunt for a berth. The Junior Rainbows and the rest of the ILH’s D-II teams — aside from top-two finishers St. Francis and HBA — will battle in a third-round tournament for the last berth.
HBA struggled at times against the Junior ‘Bows, as expected. The teams locked horns during the regular season and the Eagles won a best-of-three match in three sets.
At one point late in the match, University wasn’t able to set up a block on consecutive HBA plays. Endurance was a factor on a steamy, humid night.
"We’re a short team and we know that we can’t always keep swinging, so we did a good job and kept swinging when we noticed the block was down," Limoz said. "Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we do our V-ups and conditioning like crazy."
A V-up is "kind of like a sit-up, but you have to use your whole core to bring your hands to your knees," Limoz added. "You have to do as many as you can in 30 seconds."
Meagan Mahiko led he Junior ‘Bows with 15 kills. Courtney-Leigh Albios and Markayisha Masani added 11 kills apiece. Masani had three of her team’s eight aces, including four in the second set. Makenzie Conching had 22 assists and two aces.
Marissa Nakasone, the libero, and Tara Kagimoto anchored the back row for HBA.
The turning point may have been during the third set, with the match tied at 1-all. HBA started slowly again, and with University ahead 6-1, coach Myles Shioji called time out. He implored his team in blunt terms after seeing them allow tipped balls to fall to the ground.
"It’s never necessary to yell, but the girls needed to play with more energy. It’s more about energy and passion," he said. "We hit little lulls, but the girls understand most of the time how to get out of it."
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