Waiakea made the trip over to the west side Monday evening, beating Kealakehe in straight sets in a BIIF regular season match-up 25-16, 25-20. The Waveriders managed to keep both sets competitive early on, but the Warriors managed to pick up there momentum the longer they were on the court.
Kealakehe (3-4) and Waiakea (7-1) battled back and forth in the first set with the Waveriders taking a 4-3 advantage off a block by Nicole Cristobal. Nika Paogofie-Buyten was the primary source of offense for Kealakehe, and showed her overall talent as the Waiakea servers actively tried to avoid her when she rotated to the backline.
After the Warriors tied the match at 4-4 when a Waverider shot was hit into the net, a reoccurring theme on Monday, Waiakea began to pull away behind the soft touch, floating serves of Kadara Marshall. Marshall’s first serve went for an ace to put her team up by one. When she was finished serving, Marshall had picked up a second ace and given Waiakea a 9-4 advantage.
The Warrior run was finally halted when Paogofie-Buyten charged the net and picked up a kill.
After a few points from Kealakehe, another Waiakea streak put the Warriors up by five once again before Paogofie-Buyten sent another shot crashing down on the Waiakea backline. However, a spike attempt into the net killed any change for an offensive rally for the Waveriders.
The Warriors slowly continued to increase their lead and the first set ended when Kealakehe’s Abcde Tan hit a shot that sailed long.
In the second set, Kealakehe fell behind early but a kill down the center of the court by Paogofie-Buyten tied Waiakea at 4-4. The Waveriders tried to take the lead but anytime the offense picked up momentum, Waiakea’s Brianna Ridgway shut it down with a hard spike.
The Warriors then rallied for two runs of four points each to go up 16-10. Behind the service game of Lili Laban, Kealakehe would pull to within three points at 23-20, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.