For the first time in school history, the Le Jardin Bulldogs are state champions.
Fittingly, it took an epic effort against the most storied Division II girls volleyball program in state history. Seniors Kassidy Naone (14 kills) and setter Nina Krupa led the way as Le Jardin, the ILH runner-up, outlasted defending state champion Hawaii Baptist 14-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-25, 15-7 on Saturday night at Blaisdell Arena.
Hawaii Baptist (14-2), the ILH champion, had beaten Le Jardin (14-3) a week earlier in the league playoffs. It has been a rapid ascent to the top for the Bulldogs and second-year head coach Lee Lamb.
“Oh yeah, it was classic see-saw back and forth,” he said of the fourth battle between the two programs this fall. “Nina is like the heart and soul of the team, smiling all the time. She’s a workhorse.
“Kassidy is a nice, nice kid. She draws two blockers and makes things easier for our setter (Krupa).”
The fifth and deciding set was dominated by the Bulldogs, who hit .500 (seven kills, no errors) with a balanced attack. The Eagles had five hitting errors in the fifth, falling behind 8-2, and never got closer.
“We know how to stay focused and take it one point a time,” said Naone, who took 51 swings. “This is what we’ve been working for all season.”
“Le Jardin worked hard and competed,” longtime HBA coach Myles Shioji said. “Our younger girls have a lot to learn in terms of staying in the moment. It hurts for them, but hopefully, they all work hard and come back better.”
Despite playing a fourth match in as many nights, Naone and Krupa were a constant source of energy, as was middle Julia Fisher. Krupa had six kills, 18 assists and 10 digs. Fisher tallied nine kills, while Natalie Piper had 10 kills and a team-high 16 digs. Libero Kailee Lyons also had 10 digs.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, but this week in the state tourney we’ve really played together as a team,” said Krupa, who began playing the sport as a seventh-grader at LJA. “I don’t know if it was so much tiredness we overcame, but just playing with a lot of momentum.”
HBA earned an opening-round bye by winning the ILH. Le Jardin could have been the more fatigued team, but it didn’t show in the late going of the championship match.
“I was OK with playing that first-round match,” Lamb said. “Not that we didn’t want to win the ILH.”
Lamb saw his team show signs of fatigue in the semifinal round against a tough Damien squad.
“I sensed fatigue (on Friday night). I really challenged them, and I put it squarely (on Fisher), and put it on them to dig down deep,” Lamb said. “Today, they looked OK.”
In Saturday’s title match, Naone, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter, seemed off her game early. She didn’t record a kill in the opening set, but steadied her team after that with three aces and four kills in Set 2.
HBA (14-2) is even younger than LJA. The Eagles will lose two key players to graduation — outside hitter Keri Lum and defensive specialist Kailey Young — but the rest will return. Lum was superb with 28 kills in 69 swings, adding seven digs. Junior Kallie Langford added 15 kills (.344).
Naiya Fujikawa led the back row with a match-high 20 digs. Young added 14 digs and Ally Wada had 11.
The Eagles were chasing their fifth state crown. The title matchup was a repeat of last year’s state final.
HBA rolled almost too easily in Set 1 as Langford smoked six kills and Lum added four.
Set 2 was almost opposite, as the Eagles seemed to lose their energy just enough for the Bulldogs to rally. LJA opened the lead to 6-2, and then got a combined four aces from Naone and Arianna Lunow-Luke to extend the lead to 19-7.
The Bulldogs retreated some on defense and stopped bringing the block.
“That was not by design,” Lamb noted.
HBA took advantage and rallied to within 22-18 after a block by Wada. LJA hung on and Naone’s ace ended it, evening the match at 1-1.
Set 3 continued to be a battle of attrition for two tiring teams. The Eagles fell behind 9-2 and were struggling when a TV timeout stopped LJA’s momentum at 13-5. From there, HBA scored five straight points, including an ace by Fujikawa.
LJA went on a 9-5 run to put the Eagles almost off the edge at 22-15. HBA scored the next six points and was within 22-21. Lamb called timeout and Krupa set Piper on the right side for a clean kill. Piper’s service error followed, but Naone masterfully put down a left-side kill just inches inside the back line.
Krupa set Fisher for a back-row kill to end Set 3.
That wasn’t quite enough drama, of course. The Eagles steamrolled to a 13-4 lead in Set 4, getting five kills from a rejuvenated Lum. LJA got no closer than eight as HBA evened the match to force a fifth set.
