Kassidy Naone slammed 11 kills as Le Jardin swept Honokaa 25-13, 25-7, 25-9 in opening-round Division II play of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships at St. Francis.
The Bulldogs (11-3), No. 2 from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, will meet Maui Interscholastic League champion Hana (12-0) tonight at 7 at St. Francis in quarterfinal play.
Naone, a 5-foot-11 senior, was overpowering most of the night. She had just one hitting error (.667), and added two blocks and one of her team’s nine aces.
“It’s really good for our confidence. We just need to make sure we take it one game at a time and stay focused on the present,” said Naone, who appeared to be fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered during the team’s mainland trip a few weeks ago.
LJA’s rival in the ILH, Hawaii Baptist, is the tourney’s top seed. The teams met in the state final last year and the ILH title matches in the past two seasons.
“We’ll celebrate (the win) and focus on the next game,” Naone said.
Natalie Piper added seven kills and three aces, and middle Julia Foster, a 6-1 junior, had seven kills and one ace. Versatile Nina Krupa, a 5-10 senior, tallied six kills, 14 assists and two aces. Bailey Suezaki, a sophomore, had a team-high 23 dimes, and Arianna Lunow-Luke chipped in four kills. Halle Metzler pierced two aces for the Bulldogs.
“I was asking these referees what these girls eat. They’re a private school, but they’re big girls. Their (setter) was at least 5-9, something like that,” Honokaa coach Michael Fernandez said.
Honokaa provided some resistance in the first game, but LJA was simply too big and too precise in all facets for the fourth-place team from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation.
Senior Randy Iona paced the Dragons with five kills. Leilani Pupuhi added four kills and an ace, and Tiera McKenzie tallied three kills and one block. Junior Karly Requelman had seven assists and sophomore Destynee Carvalho had four dimes and one kill.
“I’m happy with how our girls played,” Fernandez said. “We got our blocks up and we were helping plenty underneath.”
LJA coach Lee Lamb was satisfied. He began to empty the bench early in the second game, and the Bulldogs didn’t let up, taking a 16-2 lead.
“We didn’t know anything about them. I called people and looked online, nothing,” he said. “From watching warm-ups, 10 (Iona) and 11 (Esther Benanua) looked good.”
The Bulldogs’ depth and balance are key. If they reach the final, it’ll be four matches in four nights.
“We wanted to keep our kids fresh. The girls we brought in, there’s not a big gap,” Lamb added.
LJA hit .545, committing just five hitting errors. Honokaa hit minus-.034 and had 15 hitting errors.
The Dragons’ only lead in the match came on the opening point of the third set. Iona’s kill on an overpass gave them a 1-0 lead.
Damien 3, Roosevelt 0
Sophomore Shelby Capllonch pounded 18 kills and two aces as the Monarchs swept the Rough Riders 25-22, 25-12, 25-19 in another opening-round match at St. Francis gym.
Damien (10-3), the third-place team from the ILH, will face second-seeded Konawaena on Thursday, 5 p.m., at St. Francis.
Senior Taylor Labanon (eight kills) and freshman Mikeila Beasley (seven kills, one block) gave the Monarchs a balanced attack. Ash-Lynn Herring dished a match-high 30 assists.
Vanessa Colling led Roosevelt (7-7), the OIA D-II runner-up, with six kills, eight assists and one ace. Sophomore Lauren Pau-De Santos also had six kills and Teuila Faasavalu added five kills. Senior Danika Stewart dished eight assists. Jessica Au had two of her team’s four aces.
Roosevelt will meet Honokaa in consolation play starting at 3:30 p.m. at St. Francis.
Molokai 3, Kohala 2
Shaelyn McCutcheon put down 11 kills and hit .308 to lead the Farmers over the Cowgirls, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23, 19-25, 15-5, in a first-round match at Kaimuki.
Molokai (10-3) hit .200 overall compared to Kohala’s .041 hitting percentage. Molokai’s Precious Rawlins recorded a team-high 15 digs and 23 assists, while Anaiyah Tabiolo led the Cowgirls (13-8) with a match-high 20 digs to go along with three aces.
With the match tied at two sets apiece, Molokai pulled away in the fifth set with an 8-0 scoring run to earn match point at 14-4. After a Kohala hitting error, Molokai’s Sehja Pedro earned her eighth kill to clinch the win.
The Farmers play top seed Hawaii Baptist today at Kaimuki.
Kapaa 3, Hawaii Prep 1
The Warriors racked up 16 aces in a 25-9, 19-25, 25-20, 25-19 win over Ka Makani.
Rachel Pleas recorded team-highs of seven aces, 37 assists, and 11 digs for Kapaa (11-2), while teammate Keani Tolenoa posted a double-double with a team-high 14 kills and 10 digs. Madi Lee finished with a match-high 17 kills and a team-high 12 digs for Hawaii Prep (13-8).
Kapaa moves on to meet OIA champion Waianae.
Ka Makani took an early lead in Set 4, but gave up the momentum as the Warriors strung together a 6-2 scoring run to take a 20-13 advantage. Hawaii Prep rallied with five consecutive points to come within two, but it wasn’t enough to take down the KIF champions.
